I could be writing this in Spanish, but not due to a sudden flurry of Spanish intensive courses.  This review is in English because a sudden storm, the daring of the English fleet, dictated thus.  The Spanish Amada was sunk and history decreed that the English and the English language would rule the world, for many years.  This is a fact that cannot be denied, but with much of Elisabeth, it is hard to separate cinematic invention with historical truth.

       Director Sophia Ford Coppola, side stepped the notion of mixing glamour with historical accuracy by giving her film Marie Antoinette a modern edge, with contemporary music and a modern day feel. Shekhar Kapur, with his expensive production, mixes his metaphors.  I imagine there is nothing too glamorous about having one’s head brutally severed from their body with the brute force of an axe man, particularly not while spectators gawp at this historical event.  However, Kapur makes this event so surreal that I even noticed sunlight embellishing the block that Mary rested her head on. Choir music adds to the dreamy sequences. Fashionably, the costumes are fantastic and Elisabeth is never seen without some ornate wig and hair piece. Jean Paul Gaultier, could have been imported to decree how the costumes should look! 

       The film certainly had a large quota of style, well conceived images, attention to detail, especially the main set which is rich with beautiful objects.  Elisabeth came across as a totally pampered monarch, when taking her bath, it was full of flower petals, surrounded by  candles, like in some TV commercial (the old advert for flake).  She could control her subjects with any sudden whim, ordering them to dance a bizarre dance, one that had been popular at the time.  She certainly had a temper to match her flame coloured hair and woe betide those who met her displeasure!  She also showed remnants of human frailty, though her enemies were dispatched in the clinical cruel fashion, by order of her henchman Sir Francis Walsingham, played by the ever excellent Geoffrey Rush, she still seemed racked in numb pained guilt.  Of course at the heart of this film is Catholic, Protestant struggle, punctuated by the Spanish desire to conquer England and place Mary Queen of Scots on the thrown. Deaths were justified, in the name of religion, but also because Elisabeth’s sheer survival was at stake. There was a scene of a potential assassin rushing in on Elisabeth, who stood there glowing whiter than white, not a mortal, but like a goddess, almost unmoved.  The assassination attempt failed, with the assassin seemingly more fearful of Elisabeth than she of him.  Yes Elisabeth at times cut a fearful figure. She was a true Queen, she could give her benediction to babies held out to her as she passed. She controlled the lives and destinies of her courtiers, the most significant being another Elisabeth or Bess,  played by Abbie Cornish, who dared to steal away her Walter Raleigh played clumsily and unbelievably by Clive Owen. 

       There were some comical scenes, as he presented the potato to the court, where would England be now, if we didn’t have fish and chips? Tobacco also presented much amusement, but the story of tobacco is a different one to that of the potato.  Sometimes this film slipped into the surreal, a white horse jumping into the sea, or a crucifix sinking deep into the water, as the Spanish Amada was left in turmoil. Sometimes the film was in danger of mirroring the BBC  satire series "Black Adder".  There were even moments of the Pirates of the Caribbean Sir Walter swinging off a rope and lunging into the sea as the boat he had steered rammed into the Spanish ship, to smother it in flames.

       There is a wealth of visual opportunity with Elisabeth, the clothes she wore, especially that white alabaster coloured skin face she had.  Sometimes Elisabeth’s voice would lower into deep tones, reminding me of a latter day Margaret Thatcher.  There was of course her battle rousing speech  on the English coast as the Spanish fleet drew closer. Sat on a horse, her red haired wig flapping in the breeze, wearing shiny bright spotless armour. With a speech to rival any other speech, by hero or heroine from England she said:  "I have come amongst you as you see, at this time, not for my recreation and disport, but being resolved in the midst and heat of the battle to live or die amongst you all, to lay down for my God and for my kingdom, and for my people, my honour and my blood, even in the dust."  .

       If this does not rouse you what will. But, my American friend, on asked what he thought of the film told us there was "no story".  Well I had to retort this period in history helped shape the modern world, and the protestant/Catholic rivalry was so embedded in the history of Britain. "No Story" I think not, it was a remarkable story, rather it was the way the story was told that belied his perception.  I have always had a fascination for history, but maybe this film mixes fact and fiction too readily and goes for the beautiful image while losing sight of substance.