Movie Review:

Elizabeth , the movie, is based on the life of the young Queen Elizabeth, first as a Protestant heir to the throne under a Catholic queen and later as an unwed queen in a male dominated political system. The role of Elizabeth was played by Academy award Nominee Cate Blanchet, and also starred Joseph Fiennes as Sir Dudley, Elizabeth's trusted childhood friend/lover.

The opening of Elizabeth is one to be remembered: a woman is being burned at the stake because of her Protestant religion. Queen Mary, also known as Bloody Mary was determined to turn England back to it's old religion Catholicism, her father Henry VIII had turned England from country obedient to the Pope and Roman Catholicism to one observant only of the Church of England (Episcopal).

Elizabeth, Queen of England, grew up as a princess daughter to King Henry VIII and Anne Boylen, 2nd of his many wives. The theme of the story was the challenging problems of being a "virgin" queen at her time and of ruling over England. She was pushed to marry by those who believed that a woman could not rule a kingdom because of her sex, 'When in fact the power rests in you as an individual,'(Stan Elzy) Elizabeth did not want to be forced into marriage. "I am a woman, but I can have the heart of a man if I wanted." she said. Not many people believed that she could rule with order, and not be married. Besides that problem she was not Roman Catholic, and did not believe that a country could have two rulers, the Pope and herself.

The costume and set design was breathtaking. The whole production design put the story in perfect harmony with the time period. I was surprised at the wide variety in men's clothing styles at that time.

What happens to her is something that you will figure out for yourself when you see the movie. Elizabeth is a true story about loyalty trust and most of all, for me, it is about peer pressure and believing in yourself when you're alone. I enjoyed this movie very much.