Critic's Column
Movie entertains, lacks accuracy
By Paige Gabriel
Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: Culture
In his film directorial debut, Justin Chadwick explores the themes of family loyalty, ambition and betrayal in "The Other Boleyn Girl."
Based on the book of the same title by British author Philippa Gregory, both the book and the film are loose accounts of the lives of Mary Boleyn, Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII.
Natalie Portman ("Closer," "V for Vendetta") and Scarlett Johansson ("The Black Dahlia," "The Prestige") star as Anne and Mary, respectively. At the behest of her father and in order to increase her family's wealth, status and power, Anne sets out to seduce the King of England, played by Eric Bana ("Troy," "Munich") and to replace Queen Catherine as mother of the heir to the throne of England.
Instead, Henry falls for the already-married Mary, Mary winds up pregnant with the King's baby and the jealous and ambitious Anne betrays her sister's trust and finally manages to garner Henry's affection.
If you are thinking this movie sounds more like a soap opera than a historical drama, you are right. The webs of sex, lies and deceit only become more tangled as the movie continues.
To those who are expecting a historically accurate account of the lives and deaths of the Boleyn sisters, this is not the movie you are looking for. Liberties are taken with historical details in the movie. Though Mary is said to be the younger of the two Boleyn girls in the movie, many scholars of British history claim that Anne was the younger sister. Also, some of the dates and chronologies are fudged to make for a more succinct and connected plot line.
Historical inaccuracies aside, the film is a thoroughly entertaining experience and is worth seeing on the big screen. The costumes are mesmerizing in their intricacy. As with many movies in the recent trend of historical dramas, "The Other Boleyn Girl" provides the audience with a brief overview of Tudor history.
The inaccuracies arguably serve to make the films more entertaining and appealing to a wider audience. If a few fudged details are what it takes to make people more interested in history, then I think the benefits outweigh any harm done.
One element I would have liked to see included more in the film is religion. There was a great deal of religious upheaval during the reign of Henry VIII, yet the topic is only mentioned a few times in passing.
Anne was an enthusiastic proponent of church reform, yet the movie portrays her as only caring about religion so far as it enables or prevents her marriage to Henry. The element of religion would have expanded Anne's character into something more than a woman valued primarily for her sexuality.
Based on the book of the same title by British author Philippa Gregory, both the book and the film are loose accounts of the lives of Mary Boleyn, Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII.
Natalie Portman ("Closer," "V for Vendetta") and Scarlett Johansson ("The Black Dahlia," "The Prestige") star as Anne and Mary, respectively. At the behest of her father and in order to increase her family's wealth, status and power, Anne sets out to seduce the King of England, played by Eric Bana ("Troy," "Munich") and to replace Queen Catherine as mother of the heir to the throne of England.
Instead, Henry falls for the already-married Mary, Mary winds up pregnant with the King's baby and the jealous and ambitious Anne betrays her sister's trust and finally manages to garner Henry's affection.
If you are thinking this movie sounds more like a soap opera than a historical drama, you are right. The webs of sex, lies and deceit only become more tangled as the movie continues.
To those who are expecting a historically accurate account of the lives and deaths of the Boleyn sisters, this is not the movie you are looking for. Liberties are taken with historical details in the movie. Though Mary is said to be the younger of the two Boleyn girls in the movie, many scholars of British history claim that Anne was the younger sister. Also, some of the dates and chronologies are fudged to make for a more succinct and connected plot line.
Historical inaccuracies aside, the film is a thoroughly entertaining experience and is worth seeing on the big screen. The costumes are mesmerizing in their intricacy. As with many movies in the recent trend of historical dramas, "The Other Boleyn Girl" provides the audience with a brief overview of Tudor history.
The inaccuracies arguably serve to make the films more entertaining and appealing to a wider audience. If a few fudged details are what it takes to make people more interested in history, then I think the benefits outweigh any harm done.
One element I would have liked to see included more in the film is religion. There was a great deal of religious upheaval during the reign of Henry VIII, yet the topic is only mentioned a few times in passing.
Anne was an enthusiastic proponent of church reform, yet the movie portrays her as only caring about religion so far as it enables or prevents her marriage to Henry. The element of religion would have expanded Anne's character into something more than a woman valued primarily for her sexuality.
