'Elizabeth' - Shekhar Kapur

Hello you wonderful people, I'm back again! So to help get into the swing of this project we were told to watch a film based around Queen Elizabeth and how she became the great monarch that she was. 'Elizabeth' was made in 1998 and was done in quite a contemporary style. To be able to get both sides of the Queen the actress that was used had to be able to portray both looks incredibly well, this is where the beautiful Cate Blanchett comes in. With her fair skin but prominent features.

At the beginning of the film were shown a young version of the Queen. Before Elizabeth became a a strong monarch she looked to be quite a free spirit. She had light make up and her hair was down in loose waves with a few pieces pinned back. Through out the beginning of the film Elizabeth's look stays almost the exact same. The light make up helps portray the innocence that Elizabeth had creating an almost ethereal look.

As the film goes on, Blanchett's look changes slightly. While the make up stays light an airy, her hair slowly get tied up in more scenes.The hair style that was most commonly used was plaits turned into buns. While the back of her hair was tied up the front was left down but in tight ringlets. Because Elizabeth hadn't been queen long it meant that she still had some sort of innocence but the longer she was the more severe her look came.

However the most dramatic change that Elizabeth goes through is at the end. Part of the storyline was for Elizabeth to get rid of the heretics one of which was her lover Robert Dudley. It was at that moment the true realisation that she was queen hit her. Realising that she can't be that sweet innocent girl that she was before, she creates a whole new look. Her long hair is cut short so that it sits in tight curls to her head, creating the iconic look from this era. The style of make up also changed quite drastically. Going from a very natural look, it became very heavy and very noticeable. A white face, bright pink plush a slightly rosy lips finished off the look. Queen Elizabeth reinvented herself as 'The Virgin Queen', wearing a lot of white gowns decorated in pearls. This showed the country that her intentions were pure and that she was 'married' to her people and her country.