The Other Boleyn can't hold a candle to 'Anne of the Thousand Days'

Rating: 5/10 (28 November 2009)

For those who give high ratings to 'The Other Boleyn Girl', I can only suggest that you either rent or buy the superb 1969 film, 'Anne of the Thousand Days'. Both films basically deal with the same subject but there's really no comparison. Where 'Anne' is a complex historical recreation and magisterial drama, 'The Other Boleyn' is a ponderous soap opera, where numerous film-goers today have been taken in by the film's lavish production values (shot in High Definition), along with the three big name Hollywood stars who can't hold a candle to predecessors such as Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold who really make you feel like you're watching flesh and blood human beings who lived in the 16th century.
I haven't read the book which the movie was based on but I question why it was necessary to tell Anne Boleyn's story through the eyes of her older sister Mary (inaccurately depicted as the younger sister here in this film). Mary's part in 'Anne of the Thousand Days' is wisely depicted as brief and her bitterness toward her father for 'pimping her out' to King Henry VIII is much more believable than Scarlett Johansson's Mary who continues to hold a soft spot for the King despite being unceremoniously dumped by him and bearing a child who was dubbed a bastard. Mary is basically depicted as a saint who we're supposed to identify with because she has a 'good heart'. Unfortunately, most saints make for boring drama and Johansson's Mary is no exception. Johansson did well in Woody Allen's well-scripted 'Vicky Christina Barcelona' but she is completely out of her element in the 16th century. Instead of a world weary traveler in the Tudor court, Johansson's Mary is more like an Amish-like simpleton whose grim and ponderous expressions suggest that she is an actor of extremely limited range. Mary has little to do in 'The Other Boleyn Girl'. Her two big scenes (the love scene with King Henry and the birth of her son) are devoid of substantial dramatic conflict.
What's worse is the suggestion that Anne and Mary were competitors for Henry's approval. In 'Anne of the Thousand Days', there was no competition between the two sisters. Mary's story was over when Anne comes on the scene. Genevieve Bujold defiantly states that she will never let the King do what he did to her sister and it takes a very long time in that film before Anne changes her mind. In The Other Boleyn Girl, Natalie Portman's Anne is a cold and calculating schemer from the beginning, inexplicably accusing her sister from taking the King from her. Later, she blames Mary for being responsible for the breakup of her secret union with Henry Percy. Ann's Uncle, the Duke of Northrop, orders that the two lovers separate. In 'Anne of the Thousand Days', the breakup is a matter of state policy. The head of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Wolsey, threatens Ann's lover and they're forced to part due to the King's designs on Anne. In 'The Other Boleyn Girl', Anne's undoing is attributed to what appears to be something like a bi-polar episode. After Henry rejects her because she can't bear a male heir, she becomes unhinged and ends up slapping him. In 'Anne of the Thousand Days', Anne is both the victim of Henry's cruelty and her own ambition to see her daughter declared the first in succession to the English throne.
Screenwriter Peter Morgan's view of Henry VIII is way off the mark. Thanks to Morgan's superficial portrait, Eric Bana, turns Henry into a GQ model rather than the petty but complex Henry of history. For those who are offended that I dare suggest that Bana isn't right for the part, I strongly urge you to watch Richard Burton in 'Anne of the Thousand Days'; afterward, come back and tell me with a straight face that you think Bana was right for this part. What's missing in 'The Other Boleyn Girl' is how Henry relates to members of his Court. Who are his friends and confidants? And of course there's the whole political intrigue of the court which is glossed over in 'The Other Boleyn Girl'. The key players, Cardinal Wolsey and the King's adviser, the deadly Thomas Cromwell, are missing. In 'Anne of the Thousand Days', there are a myriad of characters interacting with the King and as a result of these interactions, a full portrait of Henry's personality comes through. Here, Bana's Henry is dull and witless. What's more, Morgan's view of Henry and Anne's relationship has no real grace or drama. The best Morgan can come up with is a crude rape scene which reduces Henry to a comic book villain.
'The Other Boleyn Girl' is not without a few good points. Ana Torrent is brilliant as Katherine of Aragon, depicting the quiet dignity of a woman terribly wronged. David Morrissey is credible as the steely social-climbing uncle who holds the strings in the family. Kristin Scott Thomas as the Boleyn mother acquits herself well but she's a bit too much of a feminist icon for 16 century England. Mark Rylance was much too ineffectual as Sir Thomas Boleyn but he looks very good as a 16th century nobleman.
Production-wise, 'The Other Boleyn' is filmed in sumptuous high definition and the scenes in the English countryside are a pleasure to watch. The camera work is for the most part pretty good with first-time director Justin Chardwick shooting scenes from a multiplicity of angles.
In the end, 'The Other Boleyn Girl' is not the other Boleyn's Girl story. If you want the 'real McCoy', then you must see Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold together. They are master craftsmen and you will be truly moved by their performances. The remake connects the dots but can never hold a candle to the 1969 production. Sometimes it's best to leave things well enough alone!