Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)

Timing: 1:54 (114 min)

6.705/10
1290

7.313/10
59368

6.8/10
78000

All about film

Video 3

Photo 31

Actors and characters

Release date

2007-09-09

Country

France, United States, United Kingdom, Germany

Production

Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Working Title Films, Motion Picture ETA Produktionsgesellschaft

Genre

Drama, History, Romance

Budget

$55 000 000

Revenue

$74 237 563

Website

Director

Shekhar Kapur

Actors

Cate Blanchett, Laurence Fox, Clive Owen, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Hollander, Abbie Cornish, Rhys Ifans, Samantha Morton, Jordi Mollà, Eddie Redmayne
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Operator

Remi Adefarasin

Composer

A. R. Rahman

Artist

Helen Xenopoulos

Audition

Fiona Weir

Editing

Jill Bilcock, Andrew Haddock
All team (111)

• Location shooting took place at the Tower, Cambridge, and historic cathedrals in England. Scenes involving Spaniards were also filmed in England.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• During the military actions in 1588, Infanta Isabella was 21 years old, but in the film her role is played by a little girl.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.