"Queen Elizabeth I"

Film:(Elizabeth I):

Elizabeth:

Directed by Shekhar Kapur;

USA 1998.

With Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth);

Joseph Fiennes ( Robert Dudley).

When Elizabeth I ascends the throne,she is only twenty-five. After succeeding Mary I,she has to face serious religious conflicts as well as the pressing problems of her succession and the birth of an heir. She is in love with a young nobleman, Rober Dudley,but he cannot marry her because he is already married. Supported by the discrete but decisive advice of her minister, Francis Walsingham,the queen takes on the responsibility of her enemies,she symbolically cuts her beautiful hair and declares she has married England.From now on she will be the "Virgin Queen".

What about accuracy? ( Che dire di precisione?):

-The film takes many liberties with history. Francis Walsingham was in his mid-twenties when Elizabeth was crowned,not a middle-aged man. When Elizabeth is being questioned by her accusers at the beginning of the film, the bishop suggests that the debate between Catholicism and Protestantism is what killed her mother, Anna Boleyn. This is not all the case,for it was accusations of witchcraft and treason that sent ( mandano) Anne Boleyn to her death.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age:

Directed by Shekhar Kapur;

USA 2007.

With Cate Blanchett (Elizabeth);

Clive Owen ( Walter Raleigh).

It's 1585. Elizabeth has been on the throne for twenty-seven years. England is still ( ancora) divided between Protestants and Catholics. Mary, Queen of Scots, a potential rival to the throne,is imprisoned. King Philip II of Spain is looking for a reason to destroy the heretic queen and builds the Invincible Armada. The Armada begins its approach up the English Channel and Elizabeth asks Sir Walter Raleigh yo join Sir Francis Drake in the battle. The queen gives a splendid speech to the troops seated on a warhorse. The Spanish ships outnumber ( più numerose) England's,but at the last moment, a great storm blows the Armada towards the beaches.( verso la costa). Elizabeth,back at her coastal headquarters ( sede centrale), walks out onto(su) the cliffs (scogliera) and watches the Spanish Armada sink in flames.

What about accuracy?

- There are some historical inaccuracies. Sir Walter Raleigh's role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada was relatively minor. The role of Sir Francis Drake, one of the key figures in the victory,is downplayed (sottovalutato). The execution of Mary, Queen of Scots,is portrayed as having happened very quickly after her arrest,while she was still a young woman, whereas the real Mary was held in custody in different castles in England for nineteen years before being executed in 1587.