Tuesday, April 6, 2010

The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)

“Well, if it isn't the Boleyn Whores. Two former ladies of mine. Hiding in shadows.”
- Queen Katherine of Aragon (Ana Torrent), The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)
Here is a review from Irish playwright Gareth Russell, who knows more about Anne and the Boleyns than I ever will. Gareth did not care for the film. I enjoy The Other Boleyn Girl for the costumes and acting and the marvelous way Queen Katherine tells people off. However, there is no mention of the martyrdoms of St. Thomas More or St. John Fisher...or of anyone else, for that matter. Share

5 comments:

Julygirl said...

I have never understood why a rewrite has to be made of what, in itself, is already an intriguing period of history. I enjoyed the film because it was peopled by many of my favorite actors, dressed to the nines in period costumes. But throughout I kept asking myself, "Did it really happen that way?" I don't think so!

Gareth Russell said...

Thank you for the link. I'm very flattered. Glad you liked the review and, no, I definitely wasn't a fan :)

Elan said...

I totally agree. The costumes were spot on accurate but the historical facts were stretched.

Dymphna said...

It just accured to me how terrible the sight of Mary and Anne must have been to Katherine.

Gareth Russell said...

Well, Dymphna, she almost certainly wouldn't have seen them together much after the Divorce proceedings began. Mary was in the countryside for most of 1527 - 1529, following her widowhood during the plague epidemic of 1528 and Anne too spent long spells at Hever with her favourites. When she did come to Court, it was generally with her mother as her chaperone, not her sister. Mary and Anne were only regularly together during the Great Matter from 1530 to 1533 and Anne and Katherine were only under one roof for a few months in 1530 and 1531, so it's pretty unlikely she ever saw the two sisters together. Moreover, given how short Henry's previous liaison with Mary Boleyn/Carey was, it's open to debate whether Katherine would even have known about it. She never knew, for instance, of her husband's fling with Elizabeth Carew or Joan Dobson - so, who knows? Just one of the many, many subtleties and intricacies the film bulldozed right over, I'm afraid.