A very good movie

Already 15 years ago, Cate Blanchett gave her breakthrough performance in this movie. Of course, since I’m a huge fan of her work, I was really eager to check this and, fortunately, I wasn’t disappointed. Indeed, first of all, the movie looked stunning. I mean, the sets, the costumes were just amazing and even though I’m not really a fan of costume dramas in general, I was really able to appreciate the work provided here. Thankfully, this movie was not only nice to look at, it also provided a fascinating story which was some kind of mix between a historical drama and a political thriller. Of course, you can always argue that the whole thing was not completely accurate but when you deal with some historical events that took place centuries ago, this argument is rather pointless if you ask me. Anyway, back in those days, it was nominated for the Best Picture at the Academy Awards but lost out from ‘Shakespeare in love’, one of the most controversial winners ever (the other losers were ‘Saving Private Ryan’, ‘The Thin Red Line’ and ‘Life is Beautiful’. Nowadays, not many people would argue that ‘Shakespeare…’ really deserved this prize). What remains is that Cate Blanchett was really impressive in this, she became overnight one of the best actresses of her generation and she has consolidated her career ever since with some smart choices and other brilliant performances. Basically, it was the start of a stunning career (the next Meryl Streep?). To conclude, it is a very good costume drama, probably one of the best in this genre and it is is definitely worth a look.

8/10