(2006) In the sequel to Elizabeth (a crown not of inferior metal to its original), also directed by Shekhar Kapur, it is 1585 when King Philip II (Jordi Molla) of Spain, ruling the most powerful empire in Europe, has declared holy war and England, enslaved by the devil, in need of being freed.

With half of the English population Roman Catholic and Mary Stuart (Samantha Morton), Elizabeth's imprisoned papist cousin, having given birth to a son, the consensus of the Queen's council continues to call upon her to quell rumors of her infertility by marrying and having an heir, even though she is 52 years of age. "Fear creates fear," pronounces the Queen (Kate Blanchett) in refusing to punish her subjects for their beliefs, only for criminal deeds.

The "puddle man" (for dropping his cloak before the Queen) and political pirate, Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen), a true explorer and adventurer who has gone "where the maps end," capture's the Queen's admiration for having named after her a maiden colony in the New World Virginia; he has brought back native savages, potatoes, tobacco, and (insulting to Spain's ambassador) Spanish gold. Did we discover the New World, she inquires of Raleigh, or did it discover us?

Elizabeth "Bess" Throckmorton (Abbie Cornish), Queen Elizabeth's ear and the closest of her ladies-in-waiting, is with her pretty face also the monarch's adventurer: "You're free to have what I cannot have." Though she did not literally mean for Bess to take for herself the captain of the Queen's guard: as a ward of the Queen, she must have permission before rutting or breeding.

Intercepting Mary Stuart's letters intended for King Philip, along with a papist traitor (Bess's cousin), Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) has all the evidence necessary to convict Mary Stuart of treason, following yet another attempt on the Queen's life; his brother William (a failure as a murderer and a martyr) is also implicated. Arguing for execution, Walsingham says, "This is no time for mercy. To which Elizabeth retorts, not desiring her cousin's death, that "law is for common men, not for princes." Yet Walsingham has the last word in the matter: "The law is for the protection of your people."

When dismissing Spain's ambassador from her court, having found out King Philip's "Enterprise against England," the Queen thunders: "I, too, can command the wind, sir! I have a hurricane in me that will strip Spain bare if you dare to try me!" Her astrologer, Dr Dee, interprets the signs in the stars and planets as indicating the rise of a great empire and the fall of another.

Fear and doubt commingle with great pride and determination not to be a toy of the fates in the emotions of the unmarried (knowing no master), childless queen, mother to her people, as the Spanish armada with overwhelming numbers approaches the English coast, threatening the liberty of thought and conscience. Elizabeth rides out in armor to raise the spirits of her soldiers: "we meet again in heaven or on the field of victory!"

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Copyright © 2009 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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