Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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79 of 87 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Serves me right ...., 23 Jul 2008
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.
The Tudor/Stuart period has always fascinated me, and I'm a sucker for ol' Henry and the rest of the bunch. 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 you good citizens 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, I could have done a better job for a quarter (oh all right, half) 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, far better (even in that one, though, Anne is played as an impudent chit rather than the sophisticated, witty, charismatic young woman who had been brought up in the French court. I do go on, don't I?). Ms. Gregory would have done far better to endorse that one.
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23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Could this film get any worse?, 13 Oct 2008
I was really looking forward to this film, what with all the hype and the author herself saying how good it was. It sounded like it would be good.
However, despite the fantastic costumes, it was a complete and utter disaster. There are huge gaps in the storyline (my boyfriend had to ask me what was going on, it was that bad) which has been changed anyway.
What happened to Sir William Carey? How did Mary and Stafford fall in love? It didn't build up to anything because it was all so rushed, ti felt like the entire thing took place in a week instead of years like in the book. The characters are so two dimensional that you don't form any kind of connection with them.
All in all a complete let down and I would feel the same way even if I didn't read the book.
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21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A visual treat, shame about everything else, 4 Jul 2008
Having read the book, I knew the historical accuracy would be shaky as it was based on what is now largely discredited research. When it comes to the film, it's virtually non-existent. Yes, Anne fell in love with Henry Percy (although she didn't marry him), yes Anne was renowned for her wit - the scene where she has a crowd of people laughing around her is probably not far off - and yes, Henry overturned the Catholic church, became head of the Church of England and executed a number of people who didn't support the changes because she wouldn't sleep with him. And errm, oh yes, she did wear a gable hood, ermine and a grey damask dress for her execution.
Visually, the film is fantastic. A few historical inaccuracies in the costumes but the deliniation of class through dress is superb - and accurate - so they're forgiven. Natalie Portman gives an excellent performance. These earned the film one star, without them the headline would have featured the word 'zero'.
The book's strength was that it examined the relationship between the sisters through life's ups and downs. One or the other is always the 'other Boleyn girl'. The film fails to do that - in fact, with the exception of Anne, it fails to develop any characters, let alone explore the relationships between them.
As brain candy, it works well enough. If anyone is looking for a DVD about Anne that's historically accurate then I'd pick the 1970s play about Henry VIII and his six wives starring Keith Michel and Dorothy Tutin. (OK, the sets aren't great and there's been more research into Anne's downfall since which it can't take account of but compared to everything else, it does a good job.) If you're studying her, then Starkey and Ives are the best accounts. Given the soap opera of her life, I find it quite astonishing that film makers struggle with historical accuracy - there's got to be a film out there about the political relationship between Anne and Cromwell, surely?
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