Elizabeth: The Golden Age is a 2007 biographical historical drama film directed by Shekhar Kapur and produced by Universal Pictures and Working Title Films. It stars Cate Blanchett in the title role and is a loose but fact-based portrayal of events during the latter part of the reign of Elizabeth I, forming a sequel to Kapur's 1998 film Elizabeth. The film co-stars Geoffrey Rush (reprising his role from the previous film), Clive Owen, Jordi Mollà, Abbie Cornish, and Samantha Morton. The screenplay was written by William Nicholson and Michael Hirst, and the music score was composed by Craig Armstrong and A. R. Rahman. Guy Hendrix Dyas was the film's production designer and co-visual effects supervisor, and the costumes were created by Alexandra Byrne. The film was shot at Shepperton Studios and various locations around the United Kingdom.

Plot

In 1585, Catholic Spain, ruled by King Philip II, is the most powerful country in Europe. Seeing that the Catholic plots against Queen Elizabeth's life that occurred from the 1570s onwards had all failed, Pope Sixtus V approached King Philip, who had amassed the most significant naval force in all of Europe and convinced the king to use this naval force to invade and re-Catholicize England. By doing so, Philip, with the pope's blessing, would overthrow Elizabeth and take control of England. Philip agrees and plots to take over England and make his daughter, Isabella, the Queen of England in Elizabeth's place. Meanwhile, Elizabeth is being pressured by her advisor, Francis Walsingham, to marry; if Elizabeth dies childless, the throne will pass to her first cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, who is Catholic.

Awards