A deadly game of cat and mouse is played out in this plush account of the first dozen years of Elizabeth I's reign, as court intrigue decides whether she'll reamain queen. Pictorially amazing, the film takes its strength from Cate Blanchett's steely monarch, Joseph Fiennes as her lover, the Earl of Dudley, and Geoffrey Rush's sinister Walsingham, the spymaster who ultimately proves her truest ally. Director Shekhar Kapur marshals his visuals superbly, especially the boating scene and a burning at the stake. Mozart's Requiem plays in one of the final scenes but it wasn't written till several generations later -- oops!

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