The Other Boleyn Girl [DVD] (2008)

The Other Boleyn Girl is a historical novel written by British author Philippa Gregory, based on the life of 16th-century aristocrat Mary Boleyn, sister of Queen Anne Boleyn.It was a phenomenal success and popularity. I still remember when I bought the book "The Other Boleyn Girl" at a bookshop at Angel in LDN. I was hooked from page one. That lasted to the very last page. I honestly can not say that about the movie.

My disappointment does not result from historic side of thing as I am not expecting a movie (or a novel) to be historical accurate. However, this movie does not really catch the essence of the story told by Philippa Gregory, is not "round" and never really graps one. There are huge gaps in the story told and only if one really knows one's history one can follow. I particuarly dislike the last scene when it looks like that Mary Boleyn raises the future Queen Elisabeth I.

It is however a sumptous movie. I like the costume design done by Academy Award-winner Sandy Powelland and the whole setting. Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn, Scarlett Johansson as Mary Boleyn and Eric Bana as Henry VIII were performing well without being brilliant. Both were by far outshone by Kristin Scott Thomas as Lady Elizabeth Boleyn and Ana Torrent as Catherine of Aragon. The scene when Catherine of Aragon kneels before the king when the court is going to judge her marraige is one of the best. But that is not the main story. The performance of Mark Rylance as Thomas Boleyn, father of the girls, I did not like at all.

It is not a waste of time to watch this movie, but do not have too high hopes.

Yes,well,once again I get my come-uppance for not listening to all you other Amazonians out there who know what you're talking about. Instead I went out and bought this claptrap.

The Tudor/Stuart period has always fascinated me: frankly, you couldn't make up half the stuff that went on. Having loved the book, I really didn't think the movie could be that bad (especially having read an interview in which Philippa Gregory endorsed it. Pipps, what were you thinking of??) so I ignored the advice of the Amazon community and bought it. That was the first mistake. The second was watching it. Apart from the gorgeous costumes,the whole thing was a gigantic, horrible mess. The dialogue was laughably bad for a start. None of the scenes hung together properly, everything was disjointed, the characterisations were dreadful, and let's not even get on to the historical inaccuracies which turned it almost into a farce.

Now I know some people don't mind that, but it drives me mad (like with the series The Tudors). Either the inaccuracies are down to poor research and laziness, which is bad enough, or they're deliberate, in which case - why bother? The truth is usually far better anyway, and to present fantasy as historical fact is, I think (being po-faced about these things) reprehensible. Heck, we could all have done a better job for a quarter of the cash. Why go to the trouble of doing some bits right (using Katherine's reported speech, for example, when she went in front of the Lords to plead for her marriage) then flinging in a totally gratuitous Henry/Anne rape scene? What was the scriptwriter on? The events leading up to Anne's arrest, and the appalling way in which she and other innocents (such as Mark Smeaton and Thomas Culpepper,who didn't even rate a mention)were stitched up was completely ignored, and the whole scenario rushed through in about 30 seconds of utter drivel.

And what happened to Mary's first husband in the film, who disappeared without trace? Actually I think he died of fever in reality, but for all the film cared he might as well have fallen down a well. There he was, gone. Seeing as how the book/film is actually about Mary, you would have thought that her story would have been the focus, as it is in the book. As it was, it turned into The Henry and Anne Show. Carry on Henners.

If you really must buy, spend your money instead on the original BBC production (available on Amazon), which is far better (even in that one, though, Anne is played as an impudent young chit rather than the sophisticated, witty, charismatic and well-educated young woman who had been brought up in the French court). Ms. Gregory would have done better to endorse that one.

Whether you're a fan of the Tudors or not, this film is not for you. One of the worst films I've ever seen. You can tell they rushed it for the second half, and the way almost every scene just cuts off is frustrating. It would've been nice to actually see the full conversation, rather than one character asking a question, and then cutting immediately to what hathe consequences are. The acting from the Boleyn girls are acceptable, but not even Natalie Portman's pretty face can make this worth watching. Save yourself the money and stay the hell away from this crap. How you can make even an execution boring to watch is beyond me. I'm certainly getting my money back, that's for sure.