I bet this will be the only review of this movie you read that references Dallas Willard. Hang with me here and I'll explain in a bit.
Yesterday Babs, our good friend Jane Long (her blogname because she is a Texas history teacher and Jane Long is known as the mother of Texas) and I went to see Elizabeth The Golden Age. We almost missed it because it hasn't been very popular. And we basically agreed that this is because it takes dedicated Tudor history nerds like us to sit through it.
First let me say that Cate Blanchett is an excellent Elizabeth I. I've seen a lot of them, and think she equals Glenda Jackson in the role. She's definitely the best part of the movie. That, and the photography. And the costumes and scenery. The movie is more about artistic style, which it has aplenty, than dialogue and action, which it lacks. As the Spanish Armada approaches the director depicts Elizabeth as some kind of cross between the mythical Bodaceia and Joan of Arc on a big white horse leading the troops to battle. There were seemingly endless dizzying shots of scenes in circular motion that made me dizzy enough to have to look away. Enough with the fancy effects!
There were historical inaccuracies that we spotted. For example, Mary Queen of Scots would not have had a Scots accent because she was raised in France and actually spoke little Scots or English when she returned to her throne after the death of her husband the King of France. Another example is that although there were plots against Elizabeth's life, she was never confronted by an assassin with a gun while at prayer as depicted in the movie. I could pick a few more nits, but it's a movie and not a history book.
Back to Dallas Willard. El Jefe and I have been reading his Renovation of the Heart in our Sunday School class. This morning we were discussing Willard's thesis that to change ourselves spiritually we must change our thinking and not focus on our feelings. If you change your thinking, he says, your feelings will follow. Focusing on trying to change your feelings just won't work. My experiences in life tell me that this is true.
As I watched this movie about Elizabeth, it struck me that Elizabeth I mastered her feelings and emotions by concentrating on controlling her thinking over the course of her life. I've read many biographies of Elizabeth. Her duty as sovereign of the people of England was her paramount consideration. Many times, she refused to compromise that duty in the interest of her personal feelings. Whenever she was torn between duty and emotion, as was shown in this movie when she was reluctant to condemn Mary Queen of Scots to death for treason, she ultimately chose duty.
Some movies made about the Virgin Queen make the mistake of focusing on her emotional life, which is something that history shows she did not do. Elizabeth The Golden Age did not. For that, I give it two thumbs up.
Yesterday Babs, our good friend Jane Long (her blogname because she is a Texas history teacher and Jane Long is known as the mother of Texas) and I went to see Elizabeth The Golden Age. We almost missed it because it hasn't been very popular. And we basically agreed that this is because it takes dedicated Tudor history nerds like us to sit through it.
First let me say that Cate Blanchett is an excellent Elizabeth I. I've seen a lot of them, and think she equals Glenda Jackson in the role. She's definitely the best part of the movie. That, and the photography. And the costumes and scenery. The movie is more about artistic style, which it has aplenty, than dialogue and action, which it lacks. As the Spanish Armada approaches the director depicts Elizabeth as some kind of cross between the mythical Bodaceia and Joan of Arc on a big white horse leading the troops to battle. There were seemingly endless dizzying shots of scenes in circular motion that made me dizzy enough to have to look away. Enough with the fancy effects!
There were historical inaccuracies that we spotted. For example, Mary Queen of Scots would not have had a Scots accent because she was raised in France and actually spoke little Scots or English when she returned to her throne after the death of her husband the King of France. Another example is that although there were plots against Elizabeth's life, she was never confronted by an assassin with a gun while at prayer as depicted in the movie. I could pick a few more nits, but it's a movie and not a history book.
Back to Dallas Willard. El Jefe and I have been reading his Renovation of the Heart in our Sunday School class. This morning we were discussing Willard's thesis that to change ourselves spiritually we must change our thinking and not focus on our feelings. If you change your thinking, he says, your feelings will follow. Focusing on trying to change your feelings just won't work. My experiences in life tell me that this is true.
As I watched this movie about Elizabeth, it struck me that Elizabeth I mastered her feelings and emotions by concentrating on controlling her thinking over the course of her life. I've read many biographies of Elizabeth. Her duty as sovereign of the people of England was her paramount consideration. Many times, she refused to compromise that duty in the interest of her personal feelings. Whenever she was torn between duty and emotion, as was shown in this movie when she was reluctant to condemn Mary Queen of Scots to death for treason, she ultimately chose duty.
Some movies made about the Virgin Queen make the mistake of focusing on her emotional life, which is something that history shows she did not do. Elizabeth The Golden Age did not. For that, I give it two thumbs up.
I do believe, and Zorra can correct this, that any behavioral therapy or cognitive therapy worth it's salt, is based on changing one's thinking. It's the thinking that steers the ship and the feelings that fill the sails.
ReplyDeleteLiz the first most definitely did this. And so has the current Liz the second.
I haven't seen the movie. I do admire Cate Blanchett. And that's a good note on Mary Queen of Scots. Most people don't know that.
We know the movie hasn't been popular, but the Scientist and I are still looking forward to seeing it.
ReplyDeletePG: yes. If you learn to change what you are thinking and telling yourself, the feelings wll eventually follow.
Very, very interesting. I heard a Catholic someone on a Conservative News Channel the other day, fussing because this movie was "AGAINST Catholicism!"
ReplyDeleteWell, um, not really. Mary being Catholic was a big part of the deal. That's HISTORY.
This fellow also referred to Catholicism as "the cream of the crop of Christian religions."
Speechless, as was his interviewer.
QG - very interesting review. Thanks. Your rather surprising choice to relate Willard to Elizabeth 1 seems very insightful.
ReplyDeleteI had decided not to see it, but now maybe I'll change that.
ReplyDeletetrue re: the thoughts and then feelings... sad that most folks it seems are too utterly lazy to change the way they think.
ReplyDeletenot being near a movie plex in boonieville... i will have to wait for dvd but am fascinated by the cinematic glimpses i've gotten in tv promos...
Interestingly, just this very day I've had a conversation about how cognitive therapy meshes with spiritual direction because so often our spiritual dysfuntion is a product of "stinkin' thinkin"...so cognitive therapy is an ally in spiritual direction whether or not it's being done in a secular or faith-based context.
ReplyDeleteWe rented Elizabeth in anticipation of the release of the Golden Age, so thanks for the review! No mention of Clive, tho... how did he compare to Joseph (who will always be Shakespeare) Fiennes? And was Geoffrey Rush equally brilliant?
ReplyDeleteGreat review and really interesting juxtaposition.
ReplyDelete