The Other Boelyn Girl-a movie review
Saw The Other Boelyn Girl last night. It's a very good movie; not great, but very good. I was definitely captivated while I was watching it-and not just because Natalie Portman stars in it-I was caught up in the story (even though I knew how it had to end), the scenery, the costumes, and the performances. It was almost all great. But thinking about it after the credits rolled…
After the credits rolled, and I thought back on the movie I'd just seen, I was more than a little disappointed with a lot of the characterization. All the women in the piece (and I do mean all) are wonderful characters: strong-willed, intelligent, thoughtful and conniving when necessary. But on later reflection, they're all a little too 21st-century. I mean, sure, Anne Boelyn had to be ruthless to get where she got when she got there, and that came through (loving, but ruthless), and her sister couldn't have been much less, growing up with her, and their mother was a deferential woman who was a hell of a lot smarter and stronger than the husband she loved, and Katherine's lady in waiting…well, the only women who wouldn't have fit in today didn't have more than a line or two each.
The men, however, was almost universally doormats. I mean absolutely zeroes. They couldn't think for themselves, couldn't act for themselves, wouldn't do anything for themselves except for the approval of whichever woman they were ogling at the moment. I say "almost" universally, because the Duke of Norfolk, Anne's uncle, was an exception, but everything he did was with a whiny petulance. Heck, Eric Bana certainly looks king-like; he wore the costumes well, moved regally, and was quite a convincing King of England, until we realized that his kingishness was just an act. He was actually a wimp, a slave to whichever woman had caught his eye. He could stand up to the Roman Catholic Church, but only because a woman told him to. He could manage a country in the 1500s and still look good, but only off-stage; when he was out hunting with a woman, he couldn't even stay on his horse.
Okay, enough ranting about that. Anne Boelyn starts off as the tomboy next door you know you want for your best friend, although she's hot enough that you wouldn't mind having her for a wife. And then uncle Norfolk shows up with the inside knowledge that the King is about to start looking for a mistress. "Anne'll do it. She'll try anything," thinks wimpy papa. And they lay it out for her, and before we know it, Anne is not only trying to bed the King, but she's scheming to take over the whole country, and her plans are deep, exacting, and masterworks of sneakiness. But for some dumb-ass reason (well, it was necessary for the integrity of the story line, but didn't really make sense within the context of the movie), uncle decides to slip in married younger sister Mary after Anne's one outing with the King proves that she can ride a horse better than he. And of course Mary, who is Anne's polar opposite (Snow White and Rose Red, perhaps?), is just as easy on the eye, grabs the king by his, you know, and Anne's been pushed out.
Mary succeeds where the King's queen has failed, producing a son, but since she isn't married to the King, it's fairly easy to push her aside, and the conniving Anne comes right back in. But, oh no, your majesty, you know you want me, but first you have to get rid of your queen. Well, no, a monastery isn't good enough. Well, no, obviously you're not going to execute her. Hey, how about starting a new religion? Then wham, bam, thank you ma'am, Anne is queen, and, oh damn, the first kid's a girl. Well, we'll try again.
And then Anne starts to lose it, big time. First she loses the baby, then she loses her mind. And suddenly, the King realizes he does, sort of, have a brain, and, well, you know the rest.
A quick check elsewhere tells me that Anne did indeed have a brother and sister (I wasn't sure how much of the movie was fictionalized, how much historic, because I'm not a scholar of the period), but there was definitely some fictionalization in the movie (which sister was older, for instance).
Reading that other data a little more tells me a knowledge of the real history will probably get in the way of enjoying the movie, so be warned on that account (although I'll have to put some reading into the period on my "to read" list-it looks interesting).
At any rate, it was a gorgeous movie, and while I was watching it, I was caught up in it. And there were little frissons of "I know what's going to happen," and "Do you realize who that character is going to become?" that added to my enjoyment. For instance, seeing Anne's disappointment that her child is a daughter, but knowing who that daughter is going to become.
I recommend it.
After the credits rolled, and I thought back on the movie I'd just seen, I was more than a little disappointed with a lot of the characterization. All the women in the piece (and I do mean all) are wonderful characters: strong-willed, intelligent, thoughtful and conniving when necessary. But on later reflection, they're all a little too 21st-century. I mean, sure, Anne Boelyn had to be ruthless to get where she got when she got there, and that came through (loving, but ruthless), and her sister couldn't have been much less, growing up with her, and their mother was a deferential woman who was a hell of a lot smarter and stronger than the husband she loved, and Katherine's lady in waiting…well, the only women who wouldn't have fit in today didn't have more than a line or two each.
The men, however, was almost universally doormats. I mean absolutely zeroes. They couldn't think for themselves, couldn't act for themselves, wouldn't do anything for themselves except for the approval of whichever woman they were ogling at the moment. I say "almost" universally, because the Duke of Norfolk, Anne's uncle, was an exception, but everything he did was with a whiny petulance. Heck, Eric Bana certainly looks king-like; he wore the costumes well, moved regally, and was quite a convincing King of England, until we realized that his kingishness was just an act. He was actually a wimp, a slave to whichever woman had caught his eye. He could stand up to the Roman Catholic Church, but only because a woman told him to. He could manage a country in the 1500s and still look good, but only off-stage; when he was out hunting with a woman, he couldn't even stay on his horse.
Okay, enough ranting about that. Anne Boelyn starts off as the tomboy next door you know you want for your best friend, although she's hot enough that you wouldn't mind having her for a wife. And then uncle Norfolk shows up with the inside knowledge that the King is about to start looking for a mistress. "Anne'll do it. She'll try anything," thinks wimpy papa. And they lay it out for her, and before we know it, Anne is not only trying to bed the King, but she's scheming to take over the whole country, and her plans are deep, exacting, and masterworks of sneakiness. But for some dumb-ass reason (well, it was necessary for the integrity of the story line, but didn't really make sense within the context of the movie), uncle decides to slip in married younger sister Mary after Anne's one outing with the King proves that she can ride a horse better than he. And of course Mary, who is Anne's polar opposite (Snow White and Rose Red, perhaps?), is just as easy on the eye, grabs the king by his, you know, and Anne's been pushed out.
Mary succeeds where the King's queen has failed, producing a son, but since she isn't married to the King, it's fairly easy to push her aside, and the conniving Anne comes right back in. But, oh no, your majesty, you know you want me, but first you have to get rid of your queen. Well, no, a monastery isn't good enough. Well, no, obviously you're not going to execute her. Hey, how about starting a new religion? Then wham, bam, thank you ma'am, Anne is queen, and, oh damn, the first kid's a girl. Well, we'll try again.
And then Anne starts to lose it, big time. First she loses the baby, then she loses her mind. And suddenly, the King realizes he does, sort of, have a brain, and, well, you know the rest.
A quick check elsewhere tells me that Anne did indeed have a brother and sister (I wasn't sure how much of the movie was fictionalized, how much historic, because I'm not a scholar of the period), but there was definitely some fictionalization in the movie (which sister was older, for instance).
Reading that other data a little more tells me a knowledge of the real history will probably get in the way of enjoying the movie, so be warned on that account (although I'll have to put some reading into the period on my "to read" list-it looks interesting).
At any rate, it was a gorgeous movie, and while I was watching it, I was caught up in it. And there were little frissons of "I know what's going to happen," and "Do you realize who that character is going to become?" that added to my enjoyment. For instance, seeing Anne's disappointment that her child is a daughter, but knowing who that daughter is going to become.
I recommend it.