Blu-ray of the Day: Elizabeth

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Fiennes, Richard Attenborough.
Director: Shekhar Kapur.
Screenplay: Michael Hirst.
Score: David Hirschfelder.
Cinematography: Remi Adefarasin.

Rip-snorting re-interpretation of the dawning of England’s Golden Age that owes less to historical pedantry than the epic intrigue and ruthless machinations of The Godfather. It succinctly but sensationally dramatises how Elizabeth I’s coronation changed Henry VIII’s Protestant daughter from a naïve princess to a hardened survivor of murderous Catholic plotting and a “virgin queen” married only to her people. Director Shekhar Kapur directs with breakneck verve a screenplay that pungently condenses the main events, treats Elizabeth as both vulnerable and wilful, and doesn’t spare the heinous brutality of the times. The paltry SD extras betray the movie’s age — it was released in 1998 — but the director’s commentary is outstanding.

Movie: 😀 😀 😀 😀
Image: 😀 😀 😀 😀
Extras: 😀 😀 😐