As far as historical bio-pics go, "Elizabeth" barely qualifies as an entry into the genre. Glarringly inaccurate in many historical details, Michael Hirst's script will leave many history buffs deeply offended.

Which is a pity, because Shekhar Kapur's English language debut, after the critical praise of "Bandit Queen" made in his native India, is quite extraordinary on several levels. There's the masterful direction, the dazzling cinematography and the superlative cast on hand to make Hirst's butchering of the Elizabethian tale seem almost like a minor offence.

Starting with a youthful Elizabeth (Cate Blanchett) being romanced by Lord Robert Dudley (Joseph Fiennes), the film traces the power struggle by the Duke of Norfolk (Christopher Eccleston) who tries to wrest the throne of England while Elizabeth's sick and crazed half-sister Mary Tudor (Kathy Burke) lies in her deathbed. With England divided into Catholic and Protestant camps, Mary is loathe to cede the throne to Elizabeth, but eventually does. Upon ascension to the throne, Elizabeth discovers herself ruler of a weak and desperate country, eager for an alliance with Spain or France - or so her advisers tell her. They also happen to believe that she cannot rule alone, and urge her to marry quickly - either with Spain or France. Yet, Elizabeth, still dewy eyed with love for Robert, cannot imagine a life-long deception. Over time, as numerous upheavals, including the constant threat of war by Mary of Guise, Queen of the Scots (Fanny Ardant) and the evil machinations of the Pope in Rome (Sir John Gieguld), conspire to rob her off her youth and innocence, Elizabeth, aided by the dangerously duplicitous Sir Francis Walsingham (Geoffrey Rush) and the ever faithful Sir Cecil (Sir Richard Attenborough), discovers the price of power and makes the ultimate sacrifice for her country - an act that will have historians forever celebrate her as the Virgin Queen.

As stated earlier, Michael Hirst's script is a brilliant example of wilful dismissal of historical accuracy. Characters and events are so loosely portrayed that this whole film might as well have been about a fictitious queen and the court intrigues and power struggles that consumed her reign. Even a casual viewer will find some of Hirst's inventions crudely appalling. Apart from this flaw, Hirst is also quite inept at shaping dialogue and scenes with dramatic tension. The dramatic undercurrents that course throughout the material is often undercut by explications and scenes which feature "before" and "after" scenarios of important events, omitting the most crucial and dramatic moments of the story.

In spite of this great obstacle, director Shekhar Kapur has done a wonderful job. His direction is taut and crisp, and he manages to engage the viewer's attention through the glaring historical slip-ups and the lacklustre script. Using his camera in inventive ways, and staging his scenes in unexpected and fresh detail, Kapur has managed to make an entertaining and absorbing film out of a script that holds none of this promise.

His cast, led by the Australian Cate Blanchett - so good in both "Paradise Road" and "Oscar and Lucinda" - are all uniformly excellent. Blanchett possesses the necessary fiery spirit and melancholy that makes her transformation from malleable teen to formidable monarch believable and heartbreaking. Geoffrey Rush, Christopher Eccleston, Kathy Burke, Fanny Ardant, Sirs Richard Attenborough and John Gieguld all lend credible support even though their roles are so under-written that many of them, especially Rush and Eccleston, are robbed off the opportunity to fully display the range and depth of their characterizations. French soccer sensation, Eric Cantona, cuts a fine figure and gives an adequate, non-distracting performance as a French ambassador, and Joseph Fiennes shows much promise in his portrayal of the man who would be Elizabeth's most painful lesson on her way to power and glory.

By and large, "Elizabeth" is good entertainment. If it at all fails in any measure, it is due largely to the script's inherent flaws - however, Shekhar Kapur and his cast more than make up for the shortcomings and, unless you're a hard-core history buff, you'll find this film worth watching.

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