Elizabeth I (1533-1603) is one of the most outstanding kings in British history. She served as Queen of England and Ireland from 1558 to 1603 and was also the nominal Queen of France. She was unmarried for life, so she was called "the Virgin Queen" (the Virgin Queen). When she came to power, England was in a state of internal chaos caused by religious divisions. During the nearly half-century of her reign, she not only succeeded in maintaining the unity of England, but also made Britain one of the most powerful and wealthy countries in Europe. Her reign is known as the "Golden Age" in British history. This title is the origin of the film's title.
"Golden Age" is the sequel to "Elizabeth", which has received multiple Oscar nominations. Unlike "Elizabeth", which mainly tells the difficult and difficult history of the young queen's ascension to the throne, this movie mainly describes the glorious history of the queen leading Britain to defeat Spain and establish European hegemony. Although there are some discrepancies, the historical story of the film is still basically loyal to historical facts.
The two films were written by the Indian director Shekhar Kapur (Shekhar Kapur), and the shooting team remained basically unchanged. Cate Blanchett (Cate Blanchett), who is familiar with the "Lord of the Rings" Queen of the Elves and starring in "Elizabeth", who is familiar to Chinese audiences, continues to lead the lead role in this movie. The new main actors to join are Oscar actor Geoffrey Rush (Geoffrey Rush), he plays the Queen’s ally in the film Sir Francis Walsingham (Sir Francis Walsingham), the learned man as the Queen’s adviser, Give her many wise suggestions. In addition, the English star Clive Owen (Clive Owen) plays the role of Sir Walter Raleigh, a man who has an important position in the Queen's heart. In history, Raleigh was not only the queen's favor, but also a famous explorer and poet at the time, who had promoted the process of British colonization in Africa.
The story of the film began in 1585, which is also fifteen years after the story of the predecessor "Elizabeth". At this time, the queen is fifty-two years old, has experienced training, and has a stable position. At the beginning of the film, when the minister questioned her practice of allowing domestic people to believe in Roman Catholicism, she firmly said: "I won't punish my people for their beliefs." It shows her confidence, tolerance, and maturity as the king of a country. Political wisdom.
However, the world is not peaceful. There are two main political problems facing Queen Elizabeth at this time: one is how to surrender Mary Stuart (Queen of Scots), who is against her everywhere; the other is how to deal with the provocation of the powerful enemy Spain. Spain, which believed in Roman Catholicism, was the most powerful country in Europe at the time, while Britain at that time had converted to Protestant. Religious differences have caused the two countries to become like fire and water, and the frequent intrusion of British pirates on Spanish merchant ships has exacerbated the contradiction between the two countries. King Philip II of Spain then regarded Britain as his greatest enemy, and he wanted to destroy it soon. These two major contradictions have become the main line of the plot that promotes the development of the story of the film.
Another important clue is the queen's personal feelings. The queen, who was unmarried for life, developed a love for Walter Raleigh, who had just returned from an expedition to the New World in North America. However, the queen is a queen after all, she can't talk about love without scruples like an ordinary woman. Raleigh and her most beloved and trusted personal waitress Elizabeth Throckmorton are in love, get married and have children. The emotional entanglement between the three people is also the main plot that the film focuses on describing. It not only promotes the development of the plot, but also plays an indispensable role in revealing the inner world of the queen.
At the beginning of the film, he did not hesitate to reproduce the luxury of British court life and the majesty of royal power. The queen wears a wig and dresses, is surrounded by maids and dwarfs, goes out to accept the cheers of the people, a scene of the prosperity of the great country. The queen has many suitors from various European royal families, such as Ivan the Terrible of Russia, Erik of Sweden, and a French prince. They sent envoys to send their own portraits and various gifts, but they were all rejected by the Queen. A young Archduke of Austria even visited in person, expressing his adoration and obsession with her in crappy English, but the queen also laughed at her.
Among the royal suitors' pilgrimage to the Queen, there is also a handsome pirate, Walter Raleigh (Walter Raleigh). He claimed that he had just returned from the New World of North America and brought the Queen's specialty potatoes, tobacco and two Indians, as well as a large number of gold coins as gifts. Although the queen rejected Raleigh's gold, she was still attracted by his magical voyage adventure story, and asked Bess (short for "Elizabeth") to observe him and pass on information to the two. Don't want Bess to fall in love with Raleigh at first sight, the two soon fell in love, and fornicated the song. The keen queen perceives the subtle relationship between the two. Raleigh is at a loss because he is caught between the Queen and Bess, so he plans to return to the New World of America.
The subtle scene between the three in the palace is being staged, and the bloody conspiracy outside the palace is intensifying. King Philip II of Spain conspired with a small Roman Catholic group in London to assassinate Elizabeth and support Queen Mary as Queen of England. After the assassination conspiracy was revealed, Elizabeth angrily called the Spanish envoy to question the matter. Unexpectedly, he not only pretended to be ignorant of the matter, but also falsely accused the Queen of accepting Spanish gold coins stolen by British pirates and had an affair with Raleigh. The queen was furious, expelled the Spanish envoys from the court, and vowed to "strip Spain bare" if Spain dared to attack Britain.
The contradictions between the two countries have rapidly intensified. Philip II then began to log a lot of wood and build warships to prepare for a naval battle with Britain. At the same time, Queen Elizabeth who was worshiping in the church was assassinated by an assassin. The assassin aimed at the queen and fired, and the queen fell down. But later it was discovered that the gun was not loaded with bullets, and the queen was intact. The failure of the assassination exposed Queen Mary's conspiracy. Although the Queen herself was hesitant, Worthingham insisted on executing Queen Mary to show her example. On February 8, 1587, Queen Mary walked onto the guillotine in a blood-red dress. Immediately, Philip II sent the Spanish Armanda to launch a war against Britain.
In such eventful autumn, the queen especially needs the support of people around her. She forbids Raleigh to leave and appointed him as the chief guard of the royal family. At this time, Bess found out that he was pregnant, and informed Raleigh of the incident, and told him to run away (the royal maid at the time was not allowed to hide any personal affair). Raleigh refused, and the two married secretly. This means that the queen trusts the two most loved people and betrays the queen at the same time. After learning of this fact, the queen went into hysteria, beat Bess and expelled him from the palace gate, put Raleigh in jail, and sobbed to Yu by herself.
The invincible fleet has been pushed to the door, and the queen has no time to be sad for the betrayal of Bess and Raleigh. She cheered up, dispatched troops, and personally went to the front to direct the battle, wearing armor, riding a horse, and giving a mobilization speech in front of the soldiers' formation. At the same time, she forgave Bess and free Raleigh to serve in the British Navy. Although the number of Spanish warships far surpassed that of Britain, at a critical juncture, a big storm prevented the invincible fleet from getting to the shore and had to stay anchored. Britain seized this opportunity and, under the auspices of Raleigh and others, used the plan of fire boats to destroy the invincible fleet. The queen was dressed in white, standing on the high cliff by the sea where the camp was located to watch the battle. A smile appeared on her face when she saw Britain's victory. After this war, Britain then replaced Spain as the European hegemon.
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