Directed by: Shekhar Kapur
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Richard Attenborough, Geoffrey Rush, Joseph Fiennes, Christopher Eccleston
Revealing mistake: When Mary of Guise is found dead by her nephew, he lies her down and puts his head on her chest. As he comes down, her eyes slap shut! If she were dead, they would remain open.
Revealing mistake: In the scene on the boats just before the attempted assassination of Elizabeth, the boats seem to have black plastic tips on their oars; not available until the 20th century.
Revealing mistake: When Mary of Guise is found dead by her nephew, he lies her down and puts his head on her chest. As he comes down, her eyes slap shut! If she were dead, they would remain open.
Elizabeth: Just tell me why.
Lord Robert: Why? Madam, is it not plain enough to you? 'Tis no easy thing to be loved by the queen. It would corrupt the soul of any man.
Trivia: The film rolls two conspiracies against Elizabeth into one. The first was the Ridolfi plot of 1571, in which the Duke of Norfolk was executed and Arundel arrested. The second culminated in 1586 when a priest named John Ballard was sent by the Pope to coordinate an English Catholic rebellion that would clear the way for an Italian invasion. As far as we know, Sussex and Dudley were not involved in any treachery as alleged in the film. Importantly, the film makes scarce mention of Elizabeth's cousin Mary, Queen of Scots (as a Catholic it was she who the rebels wished on the English throne and she played a central role in all the conspiracies).
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