Elizabeth the Golden Age, 2007 . Dir Shekhar Kapur
Elizabeth the Golden Age, 2007 . Dir Shekhar Kapur
Introduction
I was very impressed with Kapur's first rendering of the early part of Elizabeth's life and it will be interesting to see how this history film stands up to its predecessor. It is improtant to differentiate the genre of history film from that of costume drama as a genre. The latter are usually stories set in a specific historical period but which often have no historical grounding in the facts. By comparison the history film is about specific people and events which are accepted as facts although interpretations of these facts will of course differ. It is also important to note the creation by critics of the notion of the 'heritage film' which suggested that countries undergoing some sort of crisis perhaps of identity often recourse to a golden past which is something of a mythical one (See also Heritage Cinema in France). There is an abundance of films about the Tudor period and Elizabeth 1st whilst there is a paucity of films about large tracts of other parts of British history. There will be a comparison of this film with the earlier versio of Elizabeth in due course.
Shekhar Kapur's previous version was very succesful in financial terms by the standards of British films. Kepur was a controversial choice the last time after his film Bandit Queen was banned in India. It was a fine film and Film Four backed the original project. I'm looking forward to seeing this one in any case.
Film availability:
Not currently available as a DVD in the UK. Still in cinemas.
Webliography
Historian Alison Weir on Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Radio One interviews with Shekhar Kapur and others.
Guardian Blog for Elizabeth the Golden Age. A nice quality viewing extract available here.
Guardian Review of Elizabeth the Golden Age
Long live the queen. Guardian feature on clothing design and the representations of queens in film
Observer review of Elizabeth the Golden Age
Official marketing site for Elizabeth the Golden Age
Working Title: Producers of Elizabeth the Golden Age
Kinoeye History of Working Title
About.com interview with Kapur
Wikipedia on Elizabeth the Golden Age
RETURN TO BRITISH DIRECTORS HUB PAGE
02 Jan 2008 00:42
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Tags: A Level Media Studies British Cinema British Cinema From 1990 Cate Blanchett Contemporary British Cinema Contemporary British Directors Elizabeth The Golden Age Film Education History Film Kinoeye Shekhar Kapur Working Title Productions
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