Elizabeth R
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Actor: Glenda Jackson, Ian Barritt, John Ruddock, Robert Hardy, Ronald HinesBrand: Warner Brothers
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Spanish (Unknown); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 540 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-10-16
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Model: E1588
Studio: BBC Warner
Product features:
- Episodes: The Lion's Cub, The Marriage Game, Shadow of the Sun, Horrible Conspiracies, The Enterprise of England, Sweet England's Pride. This magnificent 6-volume collection recounts the epic life and times of the remarkable Elizabeth I in a cycle of 6 plays. Won multiple Emmy Awards.Running Time: 540 min. Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR Age: 794051158826 UPC:&n
DVD Reviews of Elizabeth R
DVD Review: "Good Sir, if you value your life, go not to the first man, but to the first woman in this kingdom."
Summary: 5 Stars
Glenda Jackson gives the performance of her life as the Virgin Queen. Far superior than any big screen treatment devoted to the life of Elizabeth I, this excellent British mini-series is at once historically accurate and highly entertaining, although it gets surprisingly dark at times. The superb writing (much of it culled from the historical record) and inspired acting conspire to bring the past vividly to life. The Tudor Court supplies an endless stream of plot-twists: factions, rebellions, rivalries, tortures, beheadings, murders, suicides, romances, diplomacy, treachery, war--you name it. An hour and a half in length, each episode is a world unto itself. My one complaint is that some historical personages -- the Duke of Alencon, for instance -- come off as caricatures rather than real people. The series is generally flattering to Elizabeth, so her rivals are depicted -- sometimes excessively, I thought -- as arch-villians.
Episode One begins near the end of the reign of Elizabeth's half-brother, Edward VI, who came to the throne when he was only nine and died at age fifteen. Since Edward was Henry VIII's only male heir, the order of succession devolves to Henry's two daughters, Mary (Daphne Slater, in a spectacularly wicked performance) and Elizabeth. This first episode centers on the conflict between the royal sisters. Their father, King Henry, had divorced Mary's Spanish-Catholic mother, Queen Katherine of Aragon, in order to wed the nubile Anne Boleyn, who gave birth to Elizabeth. To Katherine and Mary, Anne Boleyn was a "strumpet" and witch who cast a spell on--and effectively killed--Katherine. After the defeat of Wyatt's rebellion (undertaken to place Elizabeth on the throne), Mary consigns her younger sister to the Tower, last stop for Anne Boleyn before she was executed. Death, it turns out, lurks everywhere when you are heir to a throne (or bride to a King). Yet Elizabeth, through her sharp survival instincts and keen intelligence (and help from faithful followers), manages to survive. Eventually, Mary marries Prince Philip of Spain. But Philip, disgusted by the sickly, overbearing Mary, falls in love with Elizabeth instead. Mary dies without an heir, Philip goes back to Spain, and Elizabeth is proclaimed Queen. Mary's struggle between loving her sister and blaming her for being Anne Boleyn's daughter is effectivey dramatized by Daphne Slater.
Episode Two finds the lusty, young Queen pressured by her Privy Council to marry. She's being courted by the King of Spain and, it seems, every prince in Christendom. But Elizabeth has eyes only for Robert Dudley, her childhood friend, who is already married. Meanwhile, Elizabeth proves to be an able monarch, in no need of a husband. Were she to marry, her husband would become de facto ruler, just as Philip had ruled over Mary. To her Council's chagrin, Elizabeth has no intention of giving up her power. When Dudley's wife commits suicide, the rumor is that he killed her to wed Elizabeth. But Elizabeth insists she will marry no one. Calamity strikes again as the whole kingdom is thrown into uncertainty when the Queen contracts smallpox and almost dies without an heir. After her recovery, the pressure to wed grows more intense. "I will have no master," Elizabeth declares, recalling how her stepmother, Katherine Howard, ran screaming through the galleries of the castle pleading for her life when Henry VIII ordered her head cut off. Elizabeth, who associates marriage with death, will not put herself in that situation, not even for Dudley, whom she dearly loves. Unmarried, she is absolute Monarch, both King and Queen.
Nevertheless, Episode Three finds Elizabeth coming close to marrying. For a virgin, she proves an insatiable flirt. Her main suitor is Francis, the Duke of Alencon. Ironically, her Council cannot give their blessing since the people of England oppose the marriage because of the Duke's Catholicism. Moreover, a marriage alliance with France means a quarrel with Spain, which Elizabeth wishes to avoid. In any case, when Elizabeth finds out that Robin has remarried, her jealous wrath shows where her true love lies. Her engagement to Francis is called off.
Episode Four centers around Mary, Queen of Scots, Elizabeth's cousin, and next in line to the English throne. Mary (Vivian Pickles, in an excellent performance) has been put under house arrest by Elizabeth, who fears that Catholics will depose her in favor of Mary. Elizabeth refuses to execute Mary, despite urgent warnings from her advisors. But when Elizabeth receives omens of death from the astrologer John Dee, her fear of being deposed nudges her in that direction. When Elizabeth's spymaster, Walsingham, sets a trap for Mary, the latter incriminates herself by getting involved in Babington's plot to kill Elizabeth. Even so, Elizabeth is still reluctant to dispatch her cousin to the next world. When Mary is finally beheaded through Walsingham's further machinations, Elizabeth screams bloody murder and denies involvement. This episode is particularly dark, laying bare the barbarity--the most horrible cruelties and sadistic tortures--to which people descend over matters of religion and state. As Mary exclaims, "What great sins are committed in the name of duty!"
Episode Five again introduces Philip of Spain, who, as Mary's husband, had once been King of England. Now quite old, he is being pressured by Catholic Europe to war, despite the old man's reluctance to battle Elizabeth ("that remarkable woman," he calls her). But, before her death, Mary, next in line as monarch, bequeathed the English throne to Philip, giving him, as he sees it, a legal claim, especially since Catholic Europe considers Elizabeth a bastard (Henry's divorce from Katherine of Aragon wasn't recognized by the Church). When Francis Drake continues to harass and plunder Spanish ships and ports in acts that smack of piracy, Philip finally decides to sail against Britain, albeit despite his better judgment (his father had warned him never to lose England's friendship). The enterprise, thanks in part to the "Protestant wind" that blows against the Armada, proves a fiasco for Philip.
"To be a king and wear a crown is a thing more glorious to them that see it than it is pleasant to them that bear it." In the concluding episode, Elizabeth dotes on the brash, young Essex (Dudley's step-son). After their defeat at sea, the Spanish take to funding the Irish, against which England is mired in costly campaigns. To Ireland Elizabeth sends the increasingly insolent Essex. Suffering humiliation in Ireland, Essex, despite Elizabeth's command that he remain in Dublin, returns to London full of hubris and bravado. Making a secret alliance with King James of Scotland, Essex launches a coup against Elizabeth. It fails, and Essex is executed. Elizabeth's last years are spent mourning Essex, whom she had loved, and addressing the grievances of Parliament regarding monopolies awarded to courtiers (this sets the stage for her so-called Golden Speech to Parliament, movingly delivered by Jackson), and in being hectored by her people to name an heir.
If you like history, or just good writing and acting, don't miss this superb series.
Description of Elizabeth R
Episodes: "The Lion's Cub," "The Marriage Game," "Shadow of the Sun," "Horrible Conspiracies," "The Enterprise of England," "Sweet England's Pride." This magnificent 6-volume collection recounts the epic life and times of the remarkable Elizabeth I in a cycle of 6 plays. Won multiple Emmy Awards.Bestsellers in DVD
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