Disappointing interpretation of the story, beautiful to look at

Rating: 10/10 (25 April 2008)

There is a lot to like about this film, but also a lot to dislike.
It is simply fact that a book cannot be translated to the big screen without significant changes. (Read The Lord of the Rings and you will realise there was no way Peter Jackson could put in all of Tolkien's endless pages of singing!!) The problem with The Other Boleyn Girl is that the translation is done so terribly that there is no clear focus on what the story is actually about.
The heart of the story (or it should be, as it is in the novel) is about Mary Boleyn  the 'other Boleyn girl'  and how she defied everything to find a life of her own. Put into the king's bed, she eventually turned her back on her family's ambition, married for love and spent the rest of her days in the country.
But for some reason, perhaps to sell the film to a wider Hollywood audience, the decision was made to turn the film into 'The Anne Boleyn Story  truncated'.
Anne has been done and done again. The remarkable feature of the book was that this was Mary's story  an unknown and yet extraordinary woman. But in the effort to cram in all the details of Anne's life, there are gaping holes and painful errors left in Mary's. Her first husband, for example, simply disappears from the film. She remarries without any explanation to where the first man is. Also, there is no explanation as to when Mary had the second child we see running around at the end, even though the child's age would place her birth right in the middle of the film. But most painful is that what should be the most moving part of the story  Mary's secret marriage to a man she truly loves  a man well 'below' her in social standing  is barely mentioned. Not only that, but the film makes it look as though she flees to him only to save herself from the executioner. It's hardly the heroic and romantic story it should have been.
The 'Hollywoodisation' of the story is, to a certain extent, necessary, but is done to the point of melodrama. For example, King Henry's decision to desert Mary literally the moment she gives birth to his son. Also, Mary and Anne finding out Anne is to be executed only when she is actually standing on the scaffolding. The fact their mother is turned into 'the concerned, moral woman' is also a bit difficult to swallow.
But there is good in this film  especially for those with not a clue about Tudor England. The acting is excellent. Scarlett Johannson is just as Mary should be. Though Natalie Portman is physically wrong for the role, she plays it well. The other roles are  largely  well done, most notably the portrayal of Katherine of Aragon.
The film looks wonderful, with the costumes a dream to look at.
If you let yourself be carried away by the drama you will enjoy this film, though be left with a lot of questions as to what it was actually about.