June 9 movie: Elizabeth R. Continuing this fascinating miniseries which stars Glenda Jackson as Elizabeth. Part 3 deals with the lengthy but eventually futile negotiations to marry Elizabeth to the Duke of Alençon of France. Part 4 is all about Mary Queen of Scots' time under Elizabeth's "protection" (actually under house arrest) in England, her involvement in a plot to kill Elizabeth, and her execution.
Of these two episodes I think I more enjoyed part 4, mainly because I found the Duke of Alençon annoying and Mary Stewart interesting. The historical commentary suggested that Mary's portrayal here was too sympathetic, but it seems to me that there are conflicting opinions on that.
I've gotten into the habit of watching the first bit of historical commentary, then turning off the commentary, rewinding and watching the whole episode. Then turning the commentary back on and watching the last few scenes again. I'm probably still missing a lot but at least this way I get some of the historical context, without having to watch every episode twice.
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