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“Love is of no value without power and position” . Five hundred years later, it’s good to know that being a royal mistress is no longer the road to the throne. Sixtheenth century passion never goes out of style
Scarlett Johansson battle for the love of King Henry VIII, played by Eric Bana, in The Other Boleyn Girl, in theaters nationwide Feb. 29. The actresses play sisters Anne Boleyn and Mary Boleyn in Philippa Gregory’s adaptation of this historical and scandalous sibling rivalry. The movie is full of style and vibrantly sexy. See the reviews: This historic bodice-ripper combines palace intrigue with royal romance as it races through a lot of world-shattering history . It is a rule of historical fiction that a bodice shown being laced up in the first act will be ripped by the third, and so it is in The Other Boleyn Girl, a glum but galloping epic that turns the 16th-century court of England .
The bodices in question belong to the Boleyn sisters, Anne (Natalie Portman), the older, prettier one, and Mary (Scarlett Johansson), the younger, plainer one, a role that calls on a fair bit of acting by Johansson.
They are the daughters of an ambitious family: their father (Mark Rylance) and especially their uncle, the Duke of Norfolk (David Morrissey) have noted that King Henry VIII is unhappy with his wife, Catherine of Aragon, a situation they regard as a good opportunity to throw one of the girls his way. As the Duke puts it, “An opportunity has arisen.”
Nothing boosts a family fortune like having the king sleep with one of its daughters, a development that revolts the girls’ long-suffering mother (Kristin Scott Thomas).
Thus is launched a tale of palace intrigue, protofeminist frustration, sexual dalliance and not a few ripped bodices. Part of this is due to the fact that the king, once portrayed as an overweight man with gout throwing gnawed beef bones over his shoulder, is played here by Eric Bana (Hulk, Munich), a jug-eared stud who can be tender or rough depending on his mood.
This Henry wants only three things: sex with the next young thing who comes along, a male heir, and sex with the next young thing after that.
The Boleyns try to lure him with Anne, but he is attracted to Mary, despite the fact that she is already married. No matter: her husband sees her position as royal mistress as an excellent career opportunity, and soon she is installed in the palace, making life difficult for Catherine (Ana Torrent), whose main faults are that she keeps having miscarriages and female children. She also has a hypnotically unsightly mole on her lip, an impossible handicap in an age when Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson are on the loose.
The Other Boleyn Girl becomes sort of soft-core history for a while, filled with gauzy love scenes and the ethereal, pillowy beauty of Johansson, heroine of this section.
The actress previously played the simple, serving girl who inspired Vermeer, and in a sense, this movie is The Girl with a Pearl Earring Goes Tudor.
However, there’s still Anne to deal with, and after some sexual indiscretion, she is banished (“You’ll be sent to France and stay there until you’ve learned your lesson,” says Norfolk rather unthreateningly). She returns determined to land Henry and — dressed in bright green to offset the red motif of the English court — becomes the next royal favourite.
Anne is also more conniving than her sister. “Love is of no value without power and position,” she says, and for those who remember that being a wife of Henry VIII didn’t come with an old age pension, the stage is set for tragedy.
The movie, based on the bestselling novel by Philippa Gregory, has been adapted by Peter Morgan (The Queen) with an economy that shoots the plot forward at breathtaking speed, considering.
Justin Chadwick, an English television director making his feature film debut, makes the story seem closed-in, as if it was a TV movie, but that is in part due to the incestuous intrigues of the court.
However, the movie benefits from several good performances: Portman and Johansson, while unlikely sisters, are both strong and Torrent has a fine scene as the betrayed Catherine. Unfortunately, Bana is both bland and unregal and Scott Thomas — developing a bit of the hatchet face of Edna Mae Oliver — has not much to do as the Boleyn mother except stand in the shadows, glaring at the way women are treated.
Five hundred years later, it’s good to know that being a royal mistress is no longer the road to the throne.
Via: CanWest News Service 2008
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The movie: The Other Boylen Girl
Related Story: March Edition of W magazine, Sister Act
Whant to know more?
The life of Hery the VIII ” : ” The Private Life of Henry VIII” (1933): Charles Laughton won the best actor Academy Award for his somewhat over-the-top portrayal of an expansive, pouty and emotional Henry in this big-budget British film directed by Alexander Korda. Merle Oberon’s Anne Boleyn receives less time on screen than some of Henry’s other wives — the film begins with her execution — particularly Anne of Cleves.
“A Man for All Seasons” (1966): Although she’s on screen for only a few seconds and has no dialogue, Vanessa Redgrave is so gorgeous, so stunningly vivacious as Anne, that we see why Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) was so taken by her.
As director Fred Zinnemann said: “For Anne we needed an actress who, in 45 seconds, could convince the audience that she was capable of changing the course of an empire.” Redgrave gives one of the great cameo performances in movie history in this multiple Oscar winner about Henry’s nemesis, Sir Thomas More (Paul Scofield). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, $14.94.
“Anne of the Thousand Days” (1969): This big, lavish production received 10 Oscar nominations — including ones for best picture and for stars Genevieve Bujold as Anne and Richard Burton as Henry VIII — but won only for its costume design.
Director Charles Jarrott’s film is quite accurate in its period detail, yet way off the mark in depicting the relationship between Anne and King Henry. Historian Fraser (in an essay in the book “Past Imperfect: History According to the Movies“) describes the movie’s plot as “a totally unhistorical love affair between Henry and Anne in which somehow ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ meets ‘Gone with the Wind.’ ”
Still, it’s the only major film among the Henry VIII movies to focus largely on Anne. Some have noted that Bujold bore a striking resemblance to some famous portraits of Anne, and that Bujold’s French-accented English was historically accurate, as Anne was educated in France. Universal Studios Home Entertainment, $19.98 packaged with “Mary, Queen of Scots.”
“The Other Boleyn Girl” (2003): This BBC version of Gregory’s novel — to be released on DVD on Tuesday — stars Natascha McElhone as Mary Boleyn, Jodhi May as Anne and Jared Harris as Henry VIII. Director Philippa Lowthorpe had her cast improvise much of the dialogue. BBC Video, $19.98.
“Henry VIII” (2003): A Granada TV-PBS “Masterpiece Theatre” production, this stars Ray Winstone as Henry VIII and Helena Bonham Carter as Anne Boleyn. Bonham Carter garnered excellent reviews as Anne (better than Winstone received for his Cockney-accented king), and her character comes across very favorably — scheming to be sure, but also intelligent, warm and exceedingly noble at her execution. HBO Video, $29.98.
“The Tudors: The Complete First Season” (2007): Relative newcomer Natalie Dormer stars as Anne Boleyn in this Showtime TV series, with Jonathan Rhys Meyers playing Henry VIII. Dormer gives a strong performance, emphasizing Anne’s conniving and independent spirit, but this is Rhys Meyers’ show.
Season 2 will begin March 30 with Henry’s marriage to Anne. Paramount Home Entertainment, $42.99.
Source: Bruce Dancis . mcclathchy newspapers’ March 1, 2008
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