Elizabeth (1998) - Shekhar Kapur

Eizabeth (1998) – Shekhar Kapur

Elizabeth is a biographical about Queen Elizabeth I of England.  This film won many awards including best makeup. During this film she is elevated to the throne due to the death of her half sister, the future and stability of her throne is uncertain so she is urged to marry but instead she has an affair. During the film she ruthlessly executes plotters ends her affair and vows to only marry England. This is where the persona of the virgin queen comes from.

In the film Elizabeth you see a gradual change in her make-up throughout the film, at the start you are introduced to a very natural Elizabeth, she is wearing no make-up her hair is free and down this was a classic thing for unmarried women to do, when they got married their hair would become shorter or would be plaited into up do’s.

 

As the film goes along you see her hair getting curlier and also more controlled, she seems to favour plaits that are wrapped around her head and decorated with ornate precious jewels. This is a symbol of her status, because she is now queen she will have a servants who would do her hair for her, having well done hair symbolised wealth as you would have the time and money to have your hair done every day. You can start to see the appearance of rouge on her cheeks and her lips get rosier, and also her hairline starts to get higher.

 

In the last scene of the film after she ends her affair she is inspired by the Virgin Mary and goes on a quest to become a Virgin, you see her being painted in a mixture of white lead and vinegar and her hair is being cut off by her servant, she emerges saying she is married to England and is titled the virgin queen.

I believe the make-up and hair is quite historically accurate, when she emerges as the virgin queen her face is very heavily painted, and this is how she would have looked with a thick mixture of lead and vinegar on her face, if that was more suited to a modern audience it would be HD ready, but instead you can see the texture on her face.  However in a way the portrayal isn’t exactly historically accurate, in the film she is seen to have a drastic transformation, whereas the use of cosmetics to her came over time as she developed smallpox which she would hide and also wear wigs to cover.