mysticle-47183
This series was my introduction to Elizabethan England. The story of the Queen's ascension and her decades-long struggle against the might of France and Spain make compelling drama, highlighted by the quality of Glenda Jackson's acting and that of her co-stars, notably Robert Hardy as Earl of Leicester and Ronald Hines as William Cecil.The attention to detail in the costumes, the Elizabethan music employed throughout the series, and the view from the castles - it all serves the purpose of submerging the viewer in one of the most extraordinary periods in history. Political, religious and dynastic divides threaten the security of England and all that stands between peace and chaos is a queen's shrewdness and political instincts in the cauldron of Renaissance ebullience and wit.The absence of shiny and distracting CGI is more than made up in the attention to detail and respect of historical sources. I've read widely about this time of English history, and I stand in awe of the wondrously intricate and deeply human script, and the qualities of Ms. Jackson's art, which enlivens the plight of Elizabeth, the childless queen whose reign informed the English spirit ever more strongly than that of her dread father, Henry VIII.
portobellolinda
Faultless. I have been watching this series recently on YouTube and I cannot find one single aspect of it to whinge about. The portrayal of Elizabeth 1 is utterly breathtaking. The costumes perfect, lighting ditto, direction magnificent. The entire series is, for me, a sign that when everything is in place and knows its place - its been done with such skill that the expertise doesn't show, like a dancer on pointe, its seemingly effortless and yet, therein is its craft. The script is magnificent and one feels that the characters would approve of their portrayal. This character has been portrayed countless times yet, this series from the 1970's though showing its slip of age just a little, remains absolutely THE best.When the actress went into politics, I felt like shouting 'No...she's the queen!' Glenda Jackson is stunning, her face precisely shot from varying angles to accentuate her authority, her voice marvelous as she bellows out and acts the churlish girl when confronted by the possibilities of marriage. A wonderful cast. This is probably, for me, the most perfect historical drama ever made for television.
TheLittleSongbird
As somebody who admires Glenda Jackson and takes an interest in this period of history, I adored Elizabeth R. To me, it is one of the best mini-series I have ever seen. I loved how absorbing throughout the story is with such believability, tension and poignancy in the drama, how compellingly real Elizabeth and the rest of the characters were and how intelligent the dialogue was written.The music is lovely, the series is beautifully directed and the support acting from Robin Ellis, Ronald Hines, Stephen Murray and Robert Hardy is very good.What made Elizabeth R for me were the sumptuous costumes and settings captured lovingly on camera and the real tour-De-force lead performance that is Glenda Jackson's. You don't see Jackson, you see Elizabeth, that is how good her performance is.Overall, one of the best mini-series ever. 10/10 Bethany Cox
classicalsteve
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.
