Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Short description
Elizabeth: The Golden Age continues the story of Queen Elizabeth I of England in the mid-1580s, when her Protestant kingdom faces an external threat from Catholic Spain under King Philip II, who seeks to restore Catholicism in England and place Mary Stuart on its throne. Plots against Elizabeth's life, divisions at court and the looming Spanish Armada force the queen and her trusted adviser Francis Walsingham to defend both her crown and her people. Into this tense court comes the adventurer Walter Raleigh, whose presence stirs feelings in a monarch who has dedicated herself entirely to her country, while her lady-in-waiting Bess Throckmorton grows close to him.
The film is a sequel to Elizabeth, released nine years earlier. Shekhar Kapur directed it, working from a screenplay by William Nicholson and Michael Hirst, with Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Jonathan Cavendish producing. Cate Blanchett reprises the role of Elizabeth, and she is joined by Geoffrey Rush as Walsingham, Clive Owen as Raleigh, Abbie Cornish as Bess Throckmorton, Tom Hollander as Amyas Paulet and Laurence Fox as Christopher Hatton, among a credited cast of sixty-six.
Produced for a budget of fifty-five million dollars, the film returned roughly seventy-four million dollars worldwide, a modest result relative to its cost. Audiences rated it 6.8 on IMDb and 6.7 on TMDB, while a film critics' rating of 5.4 across 164 reviews placed it below those viewer scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- The love affair and secret marriage between Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) and Elizabeth Throckmorton (Abbie Cornish) occurred in 1591; their firstborn was born in the same year, but died of the plague at six months old. Elizabeth I first learned of the marriage in 1592, after which Raleigh was imprisoned in the Tower for five years. In the film, Elizabeth I learns about the marriage of her favorite and lady-in-waiting before the attack of the Spanish Armada, which is dated to 1588.
- When Bess, played by Abby Cornish, learns the volta (a paired dance of the Renaissance era in which the man performs a supporting element and spins his partner), the actress was lifted into the air every six counts. After numerous takes, her whole body ached, and she walked with difficulty the next day.
- Westminster Abbey in London served as the monastery called El Escorial (which serves as a residence for the kings of Spain and is located an hour's drive from Madrid). Because the abbey is an active church, the filmmakers had to wait for services to end, remove all more or less recognizable elements from the interior, film all scenes at night, and restore the abbey's appearance to its original state before the morning service.
- In the film, Walter Raleigh was presented to court after he had already completed his expeditions to the New World. In reality, his acquaintance with the Queen, when Raleigh threw a scarlet cloak trimmed with precious stones at her feet, took place in 1581, and from 1583 Elizabeth began to patronize Raleigh. Only in 1584 was the first expedition to the New World equipped with money received from Elizabeth's favors, but Raleigh himself did not participate in it, as Elizabeth did not want to let her favorite go. Only in 1595, already in disgrace, did he first take part in an expedition overseas.
- To save money, only one ship model was built. It looked like a British ship from one side and a Spanish galleon from the other. During filming on deck, the transition line between the British ship and the Spanish galleon was camouflaged with smoke.
- Location shooting took place at the Tower, Cambridge, and historic cathedrals in England. Scenes involving Spaniards were also filmed in England.
- The film depicts the construction of St. Paul's Cathedral as Elizabeth arrives. In reality, the filming coincided with renovation work at the cathedral. The film's director, Shekhar Kapur, preferred to improvise and gave stonemasons and builders authentic period clothing and tools for the stone cutting scenes.
- During the military actions in 1588, Infanta Isabella was 21 years old, but in the film her role is played by a little girl.
- In 1585, Elizabeth I was already 52 years old. Scenes depicting potential suitors being shown to the Queen actually took place much earlier. Ivan the Terrible died a year earlier – in 1584. Moreover, Elizabeth is presented with a portrait of Ivan IV in the film, painted by Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov in 1897.
- Specifically for the filming, a 54-meter-long ship mockup was constructed from logs and steel frames, with a mechanism to simulate pitching and rolling.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
