Elizabeth: produced by Alison Owen, Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan and directed by Shekhar Kapur. (Gramercy Pictures, 1998, 124 minutes)

Abstract

"More clearly than the other Tudors," AG. Dickens wrote of Elizabeth and her subjects, "she perceived their hunger for romance without expense," (<em>The English Rifonnation</em>, London, 1964). In much the same way, director Shekhar Kapur perceives his audience's hunger for historical romance without the rigor of historical complexity. Written by Michael Hurst, the movie Elizabeth begins with a brief overview of the last three years of the reign of Mary I and Philip II, and covers primarily the first five years of the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). Kapur and Hearst pull episodes from various periods of Elizabeth's reign and compress them into the first five years. Other facts are wholly altered or expanded upon. In the end, this allows an unfortunately over simple story of Elizabeth developing from youthful naivete to mature authority and regal ability.