The producers -- the same team that made the hits Four Weddings and a Funeral, Fargo and Dead Man Walking said they wanted to give the story a modern feel.

So they turned to an outsider, someone unencumbered with the historical baggage that might have weighed down a British director.

``We didn't want to make an ordinary, historical frock flick,'' said Ted Bevan, co-chairman of Working Title Films.

Director Shekhar Kapur, who Bevan said ``loves chaos and fantasy,'' was their man.

``They were looking for an ignorant, chaotic director,'' Kapur joked before Elizabeth premiered on Tuesday night to a standing ovation at the Venice film festival.

The festival boasts a number of world premieres this year, including Woody Allen's new movie, Celebrity, today and Abel Ferrara's New RoseHotel yesterday.