"Elizabeth is a 1998 biographical film written by Michael Hirst, directed by Shekhar Kapur, and starring Cate Blanchett in the title role of Queen Elizabeth I of England, alongside Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Fiennes, Sir John Gielgud, Daniel Craig, Fanny Ardant and Richard Attenborough. This 1998 film is loosely based on the early years of Elizabeth's reign. In 2007, Blanchett and Rush reprised their roles in the sequel, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, covering the later part of her reign."
I think that this film is one major source of inspiration for me, as a make-up student, because it gives me an example of how other make-up artists perceived the historical Elizabethan make-up and how they adapted what they've learnt about it. Furthermore, this film makes it easier for me to understand Elizabethan England's ideals of beauty and to have another idea of how the looked like, outside of the portraiture.
I am not so familiar with this kind of films but I really enjoyed this one, from the plot to the hairstyles and the symbolic meaning that make-up had back then.
In the film, Elizabeth's make-up actually changes when she changes herself. From the little sister of the queen Mary, which was opressed because she was considered "a bastard" of their dad with a non-noble woman, she becomes the Queen, which is, in my humble oppinion, a big, big change!
When she was younger, before her coronation, she used to wear her hair simple and no make-up at all, suggesting that she was pure, unexperienced, almost naive. I also think that this suggests that she had no power at all, and even no power regarding her own life, because she was controled and imprisoned by her bigger sister who was supporting the Catholic Church, and whom believed that her younger sister is against her.
She seretly falls in love with her childhood best friend, Robert Dudley, but as she became a queen she realizes that England's needs are above her personal needs, so she decides to stop seeing him in private and even stopping him to be near her in public. She wanted to sacrifice herself to the kingdom, and not marry, so her thoughts and attention to be only on the country's needs.
I think that Elizabeth's choice to wear simple hair and simple make-up at her coronation reflects her interest in emphasizing more the crown than herself, which, in my oppinion, it suggests that from now on, the country is more important than her personal needs. This can be proven by the fact that she did not marry, even when she was in love, because she wanted to give all her attention to the needs of England. She also states that she is "married to England", which can only mean that her commitment to the people is beyond her personl interests, as I said previously.
Although her complexion is natural, the viewer can see the difference between the Elizabeth before the coronation and the Elizabeth in the day of the coronation. Yes, I'm talking about her attitude and the way she wants people to see her, about the way she express her new-gained power that she has through her clothing! So basically there's a big contrast between her simple make-up and hair and her elaborate and expensive clothing, which in my oppinion can only suggest that she is in a process of transformation from being the young and powerless princess Elizabeth to the new, powerful Queen Elizabeth.
According to Bethany Latam in the book "Elizabeth I in film and television - A study of the major portrayals": "Most sixteenth-century rulers and policymakers considered it political (and sometimes literal) suicide for a woman to attempt to rule alone without a male consort, but Elizabeth used this to her advantage. She pitted the male rulers of Europe against one another by dangling the prize of her hand in marriage (and England along with it) before them, for many years keeping any of them from forming a serious design against England. When it became obvious that Elizabeth would never have a consort, her failure to marry and resulting virginity would have been considered a definite setback for a queen whose duty was to produce legitimate heirs to succees her on the throne, but Elizabeth put a positive spin on this as well by instituting the cult of Gloriana. Rather than portray her unmarried state as the result of her own desires (which would have been considered "unnatural"), Elizabeth presented it as a sacrifice she made for her kingdom, going so far as to tell Parliament that she would never take a husband prejudicial to its interests and that she was "married to England." Thus, she transformed her image into that of the glorious virgin, worthy of veneration, who had sacrificed and saved herself for her one true love: her country."
When she grew older, she also gained power. She was proud of her choice to sacrifice for the country and she wanted to show that to the world, so she used various embellishments and paints to emphasize herself. The difference between the young princess Elizabeth and the new, more mature, queen Elizabeth are obvious. The absolutely white face with pink cheeks and red lipstick that she has at the end of the movie suggests that now she is no longer a weak woman. She is now a powerful, independent, devoted and virgin queen (which masters the skill of hiding that she isn't strong all the time, with make-up).
I personally don't think that her portrayal in this film is totally accurate nor the presentation of the historical facts. Of course that filmmakers altered, even slightly, the thruth so everything will appear "cooler" on the screen. Not only that they altered the thruth but they even made her story more like a "myth".
Latam says in the same book mentioned above that: "The persona of Elizabeth that has been popularized to the point of being familiar to the public at large is at once the quintessential Elizabeth and not Elizabeth at all. Some modern historians, as well as historical novelists, posit that the existence of absolute historical thruth is a myth, espousing the view that each person views history and historical "fact" to the lens of his or her own subjective perception, a perception colored by personal and societal experiences."
"However, as with modern political figures and so much else in life, it is not the fact but the perception that is key. As one author noted, "Perhaps the thruth is that the persistence of Elizabeth's iconic status is a testament of the power of the myth, the extent to which we, historians and filmmakers, are still under her spell."
Not only the historians and filmmakers are still under her spell, but the public and the make-up artists are as well!
"Jenny Shircore is a British make-up artist. She won the Academy Award for Best Makeup for her work in Elizabeth."
Jenny Shircore was the main make-up artist that contributed to the creation of this film, and I think that she is amazing for what she did, because I think it's not easy to interpret historical make-up and to adapt it to a modern audience. Because I don't think that Elizabethan women and nor even the queen had make-up brushes and good products to make their faces look as "polished" and nice as they look in the film, of course that the make-up artist with her tools adapted the looks so we coul be delighted by their make-up and not..scared :D.
References:
- Latham, B. (2011) Elizabeth I in film and television: A study of the major portrayals. United States: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers.
- Wikipedia (no date) Elizabeth (film). Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_(film) (Accessed: 2015).
- Movieclips (2011) Elizabeth (3/11) movie CLIP - Elizabeth speaks with Queen Mary (1998) HD. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itHVWrhsRSc (Accessed: 2015).
- People in film: Cate Blanchett | Hanna (no date) Available at: http://www.focusfeatures.com/splashpage/cate_blanchett?film=hanna (Accessed: 2015).
- Movieclips (2011) Elizabeth (8/11) movie CLIP - I am no man’s Elizabeth (1998) HD. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-BIr0fW5cU (Accessed: 2015).
- Movieclips (2011) Elizabeth (11/11) movie CLIP - the virgin queen (1998) HD. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mnLbhHR6-g (Accessed: 2015).
- Fromage, H. J. (2015) Elizabeth (1998) movie review: Here’s how you do historical soap opera. Available at: http://movieboozer.com/movie-review/elizabeth-1998 (Accessed: 2015).
- Jenny Shircore (2015) in Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Shircore (Accessed: 2015).
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