Before Ben Kingsley as Gandhi or Denzel Washington as Malcolm X, Glenda Jackson walked in the shoes of Queen Elizabeth I in 1971. Or, better stated, Jackson, along with her cast, crew, and the BBC, transported television audiences to another era, another time when chivalry still existed, religion and politics were intertwined, and the world was lit only by fire. However, many of the old Medieval sensibilities were being displaced by an enthusiasm for discovery, science, culture, arts, and tolerance that we now call the Renaissance, and Queen Elizabeth I was the central figure in England's contribution to this rebirth of culture. Jackson's performance and unparalleled historical scholarship bring the era back to life and have ensured Elizabeth R's ranking as one of the great screen biographies.
In addition to the superlative performance by Jackson, the entire production conveys the atmosphere of mid-to-late 1500's England. Former Hollywood offerings of the same subject, particularly the ones starring Betty Davis, had a fairy-tale ambiance that made the era seem more otherworldly rather than historical. By contrast, the 1971 BBC production brings the viewer right into the middle of 1500's England as if you are walking around the halls and chambers with the personages from the 16th century. Instead of seeing the monarch upon a distant throne in a palace hall, the viewer feels adjacent to these people, many of whom have become almost iconic. Conversations with the likes of William Cecil (Lord Burghley), Queen Mary I, Philip II of Spain, and of course Queen Elizabeth I herself are at a human level rather than at a distance. This intimacy creates a reality that fosters a closeness with the era, although these people lived 400 to 450 years before our present time. In short, we better appreciate that these people lived and breathed, loved and hated, wept and rejoiced, much as we do now. There is something about the whole production that feels like a Shakespeare play, which seems most appropriate.
Queen Elizabeth I of England, the last monarch before the isles became known as Great Britain, was a pivotal figure who understood that a new era was dawning. In addition to the debts and deficits, her country was being torn apart by its own Reformation when Henry VIII split from the Roman Catholic Church to form the Church of England. His religious revolution, which not only resulted from Rome's refusal to consent to his divorce of Catherine of Aragon but because of the protestant waves that were influencing his people, dissolved almost overnight when his daughter Mary I became queen and briefly reinstated the Catholic Church. And she had a bad habit of burning people who did not convert back to the old religion.
Queen Elizabeth I re-established, with the consent of Parliament, The Church of England and brought a certain amount of religious toleration uncommon in her era. Although she was still quite distrustful of "Papists", those still loyal to the Pope in Rome, far fewer saw similar fates as the Protestants during the reign of her half-sister. In fact, when compared with other European monarchs of the time, Queen Elizabeth I sanctioned far fewer executions. She encouraged trade, the arts, particularly the performing arts. The late 1500's until the early 1600's is regarded as England's Golden Age of theatre with the likes of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Johnson. And scholarship, as in Italy a hundred years earlier, became an all-important aspect of Elizabethan life personified by the works Francis Bacon. And of course it was an age of geographical discovery as attested by Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh.
Simultaneously, court intrigue was also an on-going quandary. From the moment of her crowning, Rome issued a death-warrant for her, and those loyal to Rome were persistently plotting to overthrow her. Despite her reputation for mercy, traitors whose mission was to assassinate the Protestant queen in the name of bringing the Roman Church back to England would endure a fate worse than death if arrested. Her most controversial act, the execution of her cousin Mary Queen of Scots, was not without cause. Recent evidence suggests that the queen of Scotland knowingly may have been involved in plots to overthrow England's monarch. Biographies written prior to the 1990's have often characterized the Queen of Scotland as an innocent victim.
Queen Elizabeth I has literally become the symbol of all that is superior in English culture. The BBC production Elizabeth R is a living testament to that symbol. Her reign has become ever-associated with one of the greatest ages in all of humankind, and, using a camera lens, Elizabeth R brings this age into closer focus for better viewing and scrutiny. The Elizabethan Age is still 400 years away from us and getting farther, but at least Elizabeth R brings us back there for a moment.
In addition to the superlative performance by Jackson, the entire production conveys the atmosphere of mid-to-late 1500's England. Former Hollywood offerings of the same subject, particularly the ones starring Betty Davis, had a fairy-tale ambiance that made the era seem more otherworldly rather than historical. By contrast, the 1971 BBC production brings the viewer right into the middle of 1500's England as if you are walking around the halls and chambers with the personages from the 16th century. Instead of seeing the monarch upon a distant throne in a palace hall, the viewer feels adjacent to these people, many of whom have become almost iconic. Conversations with the likes of William Cecil (Lord Burghley), Queen Mary I, Philip II of Spain, and of course Queen Elizabeth I herself are at a human level rather than at a distance. This intimacy creates a reality that fosters a closeness with the era, although these people lived 400 to 450 years before our present time. In short, we better appreciate that these people lived and breathed, loved and hated, wept and rejoiced, much as we do now. There is something about the whole production that feels like a Shakespeare play, which seems most appropriate.
Queen Elizabeth I of England, the last monarch before the isles became known as Great Britain, was a pivotal figure who understood that a new era was dawning. In addition to the debts and deficits, her country was being torn apart by its own Reformation when Henry VIII split from the Roman Catholic Church to form the Church of England. His religious revolution, which not only resulted from Rome's refusal to consent to his divorce of Catherine of Aragon but because of the protestant waves that were influencing his people, dissolved almost overnight when his daughter Mary I became queen and briefly reinstated the Catholic Church. And she had a bad habit of burning people who did not convert back to the old religion.
Queen Elizabeth I re-established, with the consent of Parliament, The Church of England and brought a certain amount of religious toleration uncommon in her era. Although she was still quite distrustful of "Papists", those still loyal to the Pope in Rome, far fewer saw similar fates as the Protestants during the reign of her half-sister. In fact, when compared with other European monarchs of the time, Queen Elizabeth I sanctioned far fewer executions. She encouraged trade, the arts, particularly the performing arts. The late 1500's until the early 1600's is regarded as England's Golden Age of theatre with the likes of Shakespeare, Marlowe, and Johnson. And scholarship, as in Italy a hundred years earlier, became an all-important aspect of Elizabethan life personified by the works Francis Bacon. And of course it was an age of geographical discovery as attested by Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh.
Simultaneously, court intrigue was also an on-going quandary. From the moment of her crowning, Rome issued a death-warrant for her, and those loyal to Rome were persistently plotting to overthrow her. Despite her reputation for mercy, traitors whose mission was to assassinate the Protestant queen in the name of bringing the Roman Church back to England would endure a fate worse than death if arrested. Her most controversial act, the execution of her cousin Mary Queen of Scots, was not without cause. Recent evidence suggests that the queen of Scotland knowingly may have been involved in plots to overthrow England's monarch. Biographies written prior to the 1990's have often characterized the Queen of Scotland as an innocent victim.
Queen Elizabeth I has literally become the symbol of all that is superior in English culture. The BBC production Elizabeth R is a living testament to that symbol. Her reign has become ever-associated with one of the greatest ages in all of humankind, and, using a camera lens, Elizabeth R brings this age into closer focus for better viewing and scrutiny. The Elizabethan Age is still 400 years away from us and getting farther, but at least Elizabeth R brings us back there for a moment.