A Footnote in the Pages of History

Rating: 7/10 (3 April 2008)

The cinema in English-speaking countries has long had a fascination with the sixteenth century; there are a few exceptions, such as Queen Victoria, but otherwise there seem to be far more films about the Tudor dynasty than about British monarchs from other periods. The Stuarts are mostly represented by Restoration romps and the occasional political drama like "Cromwell", while the Hanoverians have retained to this day the reputation for dullness which dogged them during their lifetimes. With odd exceptions like "The Lion in Winter", the Plantagenets are largely confined to Shakespeare adaptations.
The last few decades, however, have seen numerous Tudor dramas, such as the two versions of "A Man for All Seasons", "Anne of the Thousand Days", "Mary Queen of Scots", "The Prince and the Pauper", "Lady Jane" and, more recently, Shekhar Kapur's two films about Elizabeth I. "The Other Boleyn Girl" falls within this tradition. It covers much of the same ground as "Anne of the Thousand Days"- the story of Henry VIII's courtship of his second wife Anne Boleyn, his divorce from his first wife Katherine of Aragon, and Anne's eventual fall from favour and her execution. It differs from its predecessor, however, in introducing as a major character Anne's sister Mary, someone who is normally regarded as a footnote in the pages of history.
Most historians believe that Mary was the elder of the two (their exact dates of birth are not known), but in the film she is shown as Anne's younger sister. The two sisters differ in both looks and character. The blonde Mary is innocent, warm-hearted and straightforward; the brunette Anne is ambitious and scheming. Both become pawns in the schemes of their social-climbing father Sir Thomas and their ruthless uncle the Duke of Norfolk. Sir Thomas believes that the best way to secure his advancement is to insert one, or both, of his daughters into the King's bed, and appears to have succeeded when Mary briefly becomes his mistress. Henry, however, soon tires of her and turns his attentions to her sister, who has ambitions to become something more than a mistress. Anne suggests to Henry that he should divorce Katherine, who is unable to bear him a son, and take her as his second wife.
The film essentially treats the story of Anne Boleyn as one of sibling rivalry. Initially Anne and Mary, despite their differences in character, are devoted to one another, but they become estranged when Anne supplants her sister in Henry's affections. (Mary is portrayed as being in love with Henry the man, Anne as being in love with Henry the king). Later, however, they are reconciled, and (in one of the film's numerous departures from historical fact) Mary even risks her life in a vain attempt to save Anne from her fate.
The film stars two of Hollywood's most beautiful and talented actresses, Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, and both are very good here, bringing out the contrasting personalities of the two sisters; Anne becomes someone we can sympathise with despite her flawed character.
I was, however, less taken with Eric Bana as Henry. Some have criticised the film for showing Henry as young and handsome, but this is historically accurate; the young, athletic and good-looking Henry VIII of the 1520s was very different to the Henry of the 1540s- fat, in fading health and old before his time- with whom we are perhaps more familiar from our history books. My criticism would be that Henry came across as too likable. Perhaps this was necessary in order to explain why Mary should have fallen in love with him, but there is no getting away from the fact that Henry was a deeply unpleasant man and that his treatment of Anne Boleyn, whom he killed as soon as he had tired of her, shows him at his worst.
At least, however, Bana was better than Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the dreadful recent TV series "The Tudors". As I noted, "The Other Boleyn Girl" is not always scrupulous in its adherence to historical fact, but compared with "The Tudors", which seemingly engaged as historical consultants the authors of "1066 and All That", it comes across as an academic textbook.
The look of the film is distinctive, with strong contrasts between the darkened interiors and the bright, sunlit, soft-focus exteriors. A notable feature of the indoor scenes is that many were shot from a distance, as if through a door or window, with much of the screen remaining dark. This seemed to me to be an effective device, emphasising the secretive, claustrophobic, intrigue-ridden world of the Tudor court. Although "The Other Boleyn Girl" is not in the class of "A Man for All Seasons"- the original Paul Scofield version, not the inferior Charlton Heston remake- it is an enjoyable historical drama which can hold its own with most of the other Tudor sagas. 7/10