ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

Wow. Thank you to the Academy. Thank you to Working Title and Universal. To Shekhar and Cate. And a huge thank you to my brilliant team and to my family.
ACADEMY AWARDS HISTORY

This is the fourth Academy Award nomination for Alexandra Byrne. She was previously nominated for:

* FINDING NEVERLAND (2004) -- Nominee, Costume Design
* ELIZABETH (1998) -- Nominee, Costume Design
* HAMLET (1996) -- Nominee, Costume Design

FILM SYNOPSIS

In late sixteenth-century , Queen Elizabeth I, now a monarch at the height of her power, finds herself drawn to the dashing Sir Walter Raleigh, recently returned from his voyage to the New World. Closer to home, Elizabeth also faces challenges to her reign from King Philip II of Spain and Catholic plotters who hope to place her cousin, Mary Stuart, on the throne.





Elizabeth : The Golden Age could have been the perfect continuation of the stunning 1998 award winner Elizabeth. The history is certainly fascinating enough. The events taking place in the period in which the film is set concerns everything from the Church of England becoming the country's official religion to the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

With The Golden Age, the filmmakers somehow managed to turn this exciting era into a boring, slapdash affair. There is enough overwrought drama to make even the most careless of soap opera's cringe. While, one could argue that the first film suffered from the same problem, at least in Elizabeth the plot was designed to entertain, and it succeeded tremendously with a plot that unraveled a tapestry of lies. The sequel suffers from a lack of any real tension or enjoyment.

At the end of the first Elizabeth , the Spanish were plotting attacks on the Queen. This time, after trying to win her favor unsuccessfully, the Spanish send out all of their ships to fight. Meanwhile, many in Elizabeth 's court are still trying to find her a proper husband. Elizabeth falls in love with Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen) but without her knowledge, he is having an affair with Beth, one of the queen's assistants. Elizabeth must now struggle with both inner turmoil and a country on the verge of losing its independence.

In Elizabeth , all of the supporting characters surrounding the Virgin Queen have ample screen time. In this second chapter, the characters often show up and then disappear for long stretches at a time. In history, Walter Raleigh certainly gave Elizabeth more of a motivation to fall in love with him. Here, Raleigh is treated as a second rate character who reads a poem, making Elizabeth tear up, and is not to be seen again until his physical encounter with Beth. Not only was the queen's love for Raleigh handled poorly, insinuating nothing more than infatuation, but Raleigh does not seem real, he is more a caricature than a character.

Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) is a powerful figure in the first picture, helping Elizabeth in all of her affairs. In this sequel, he is tossed to the side with very little to do but antagonize the queen over various personal and political issues.

Worst of all, Elizabeth is turned into an unlikable wench. In history, she is an intelligent woman with a strong passion for making her country happy. Here, she goes from clever to self indulgent, often whining about dramatic matters like a child.

There are some scenes, particularly in the beginning, that work well. Those scenes coincide with the first film, connecting the pair. Also, towards the sequel's conclusion, there are some stunning sequences as Elizabeth looks out on the defeat of the Spanish Armada.

Cate Blanchett is terrific once again. It is too bad that her character has metamorphosed into an imitation of the Queen; acting like a human, rather than being one. The rest of the cast does their best to keep the film from sinking into the English Channel .

On the technical side, Elizabeth: The Golden Age is supremely sumptuous. It is easily one of the more gorgeous films made this year. Director Shekhar Kapur, who also directed the first film, has a magnificent eye for lighting. Kapur and director of photography Remi Adefarasin create Northern Renaissance-like paintings in every single frame.

Elizabeth : The Golden Age could have been an easy contender for Best Picture. Instead, this stale English confection is a formulaic effort in need of a monarchal overthrow.


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