WHEN Gwyneth Paltrow sobbed her little heart out as she accepted the 1999 Academy Award for Best Actress In A Leading Role, a more deserving winner sat serenely in the audience, smiling politely for the cameras.

Cate Blanchett should have been standing at the podium for her extraordinary portrayal of Elizabeth I in Shekhar Kapur's sweeping historical drama.

It was an electrifying performance, revealing the steeliness and vulnerability of a young woman who inherited a country silently at war with itself.

Reuniting with Kapur for this belated sequel, the statuesque Australian actress may yet claim her Oscar as the strident Virgin Queen.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age is a ravishing period piece, which charts the tumultuous years when Spain's Catholic monarchy declared war on the Protestant monarch.

Production designer Guy Dyas and his team painstakingly recreate the opulence of the 16th century court and the high drama at sea, as Francis Drake attempts to repel the military might of the Spanish armada.

The film opens in 1585.

Elizabeth I (Blanchett) has been on the throne for almost three decades but the winds of religious discord are blowing uneasily throughout the land.

Across the Channel, Spain's King Phillip II is preparing to despatch his fleet of ships with the intention of removing the Protestant queen from the throne and installing cousin Mary Stuart (Samantha Morton) in her place.

"England is enslaved to the devil. We must set her free," he proclaims.

Elizabeth's burgeoning relationship with seafarer Sir Walter Raleigh (Clive Owen), a commoner with bountiful charm, sets tongues a-wagging.

His lust for life excites the queen and Raleigh is one of the few men to openly challenge her.

"I'm very tired of always being in control," she says casually.

"Nonsense," he retorts, "You eat and drink being in control."

Unable to pursue the romance, Elizabeth watches as Raleigh gives his heart instead to lady in waiting Bess (Abbie Cornish).

Her rage and despair becomes a guiding light in the battle against the Spanish.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age is distinguished by another virtuoso performance from Blanchett, as the strong-willed woman born into power who rues, "I have given England my life. It must also have my soul."

Owen cuts a dashing figure as Raleigh and Geoffrey Rush is an insidious presence as spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham.

The romance between Elizabeth and Raleigh tugs the heartstrings, as the queen agonises over her duty to her people and her wounded heart.

"In some other world, in some other time, could you have loved me?" she wonders.

"I know only this world, and in this time," confides Raleigh. "I have loved you."

But historical veracity is blown to smithereens during the climactic battle, as Elizabeth stands proudly atop the white cliffs of Dover, her frock billowing, witnessing her country's finest hour.

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