2003 Talk About Movies
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Contents © 2003
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.

TALK ABOUT MOVIES
April 2003

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Directed by Shekkar Kapur. Starring Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Joseph Fiennes. 1998, 124 minutes, UK, Color, English. Available at Blockbuster Video. (Contains graphic violence, nudity, and sexuality).

Matthew: Conscience is repeatedly raised up as inviolate, a justification for not being Roman Catholic. But when Elizabeth creates one church in England, she's violating the conscience of everyone who is Catholic. When she asks, "Can one man serve two masters?" she's saying that we must reject the meddling of popes. And when she says that difference of religion will result in harmful faction, she's placing the peace of England above conscience.

Ernie: Ironically, because they can't have Queen Mary ordering Elizabeth's execution, they end up with a Catholic woman acting by conscience, even though she doesn't want Elizabeth to be queen. Then Elizabeth turns to persecution to establish her Protestant realm. She goes along with assassination and torture. The movie sets up England's future glory as justification for her acts -- that's why we're told that she reigned for 40 more years, and that England was the most powerful nation in the world when she died.

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Ernie: The standard line when people are executed is, "May God have mercy on your soul." But the Catholic priest says of the heretics, "May they burn in hell for all eternity."

Matthew: The pope promising sainthood to Elizabeth's assassin was the crowning touch.