"16th Century Soap Opera At Its Best!"
Added 11/23/2009
"The Other Bolyn Girl" was released to theatres on February 29th, 2008 and became an immediate hit grossing over $75,000,000 at the boxoffice. These were huge numbers considering the movie only cost $35,000,000 to produce. Perhaps it was the fact that television viewers, at the time, were enthralled by Showtime's "The Tudors" and movie-going audiences were inclined to watch a historical piece on King Henry VIII that made this a hit, but "The Other Bolyn Girl" could never have failed; it had all the ingredients of a hit film: stunning photography, a wonderful story that was known to its audience, and enthralling performances by its three leads. "The Other Bolyn Girl" tells the story of 16th-century aristocrats Mary and Anne, sisters, fighting over King Henry VIII. Mary would ultimately be only Henry's mistress(one of many) and Anne would become his second wife(also one of many). Both sisters were trying to better themselves and their family by getting involved with the Monarch, but both failed to realize the King was only in love with two things; his country and his unfulfilled sexual apetite. The sisters are played by Natalie Portman (Anne) and Scarlett Johansson (Mary), but it is Eric Bana, who plays King Henry, that is mesmerizing. He displays many emotions as the King of England; everything from raw sexuality (Eric is breathtaking to look at with his beard) to hatred, passion, love, desire, and vengefulness. The production values of this historical drama are first-rate with beautiful costumes and cinematography. The DVD comes with deleted and extended scenes, featurettes on the film and its historcial figures, and more. WNBC says of the film that it's , "a wonderful, dramatic and powerful saga of the dangers of absolute power. The cast is impeccable". If you enjoy "The Other Bolyn Girl" you will love TV's "The Tudors". That series' first two seasons are available on DVD.
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Hated this movie
Added 11/17/2009
This movie played with history and the sisters motivations for doing what they did were muddy. While some of the actors were good (Scarlett Johanssen, Kristin Scott Thomas), the 2 main characters were not very believable. Hated Eric Bana as Henry VIII. He had no fire or passion and wasn't arrogant enough. And I just could not believe Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn. On the whole, skip it and watch The Tudors. Much better and in more depth rendition of same topic. Also, you could go back in time and rent/buy A Man For All Seasons if you really want to see Henry VIII (Peter O'Toole) and Thomas More (Paul Scofield) go at it.
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Not so Competent Filmmaking
Added 11/11/2009
"The Other Boleyn Girl" tells the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn, the woman who manipulated Henry the Eighth into separating from the Vatican and who gave birth to Elizabeth, Britain's greatest monarch.
When Catherine of Aragon is unable to produce a male heir for the king (Eric Bana) the Boleyn family plays political intrigue, assigning Anne (Natalie Portman) to be Henry the Eighth's mistress. But Henry the Eighth prefers the younger sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson), and beds her. Dejected and angry Anne secretly marries the young lord Henry Percy, an impetuous act that is rewarded with her exile in France where she completes her education in the ways of man. Upon her return Anne seduces Henry the Eighth, manipulates him into rejecting her younger sister, the queen, and the Vatican. Branded as a witch by the English public Anne gives birth to Elizabeth, and then loses a child in a miscarriage. Fearing for her life and clearly growing insane Anne tries to get her brother George to impregnate her, and the king hears about this and beheads both.
When we first learn that Natalie Portman is to play the wildly ambitious seductress Anne and Scarlett Johansson her wide-eyed innocent sister we're forced to think that there's been a terrible mix-up in casting. But Natalie Portman is the anchor of the film, holding together a flimsy and sometimes incoherent script and yet another half-hearted performance by Scarlett Johansson.
Natalie Portman will be remembered as the greatest star of her generation -- the Audrey Hepburn of our times. She lacks the stunning overwhelming beauty of Audrey Hepburn but she is far more talented and versatile. She was terrible in the Star Wars trilogy but so was everyone else, and since then she has given nothing but competent performances. In "The Other Boleyn Girl" her character isn't all that believable and developed, her supposed transformation halfway through the movie isn't really noticeable, and it's hard to figure out why Henry the Eighth becomes so infatuated with her -- and yet despite all these stark flaws in the script and direction Natalie Portman's still compelling to watch: she's just stunningly beautiful draped in vermillion, and she makes the usually sexy Scarlett Johansson look dull and ditzy.
Ironically Portman's brilliant performance only hurts the film. The film is designed to be a tragedy, centering around a family that suddenly rises and then suddenly falls because of their overwhelming thirst for power. It is this blind famly ambition that would create Anne Boleyn, a woman who's either evil or insane and who almost singlehandedly managed to tear England apart. Countering Anne is good and noble Mary, who almost loses her soul to her family's ambition but in the end learns to trust her goodness. So what does it say about the direction of the film and the film itself when at the end we really don't care about Mary, and we don't want Anne to be beheaded even after we've seen Anne destroy her younger sister, destroy the good queen, and try to bed her brother?
Clearly directors need to learn to control Natalie Portman better. She's not yet as famous and powerful as Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise but already she can warp a film -- in a very uncanny Anne Boleyn way -- around her. The good news is that unlike Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise she is talented, and when she finds a script and meets a director worthy of her talent the result will be truly mesmerizing.
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Excellent exciting DVD
Added 10/16/2009
Enjoyed the DVD from start to exciting finish. It came on time and in condition shown.
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Henry VIII, Hollywood Style
Added 9/24/2009
I saw this only about a week after having seen Ann of a Thousand Days so, of course, my mind was busy making comparisons. I'm not a student of English history but from what I've read here, "Ann" was much closer to actuality. It seems to me that if you're going to make a historical drama, tell the real story--otherwise why bother?
As far as casting is concerned, Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold were head and shoulders better than this group, with the exception of Kristin Scott-Thomas, who is always good. Apparently these were chosen for box office appeal. Scarlett Johannsen is a gifted "personality" (don't know if I'd really call her an actress.)
She is physically gorgeous and has a strong screen presence, which suits her very well for some roles. However here she was given the role of the shy, mousy sister--what a waste of glam-power. She played "dumb" a lot, often by looking blank and breathing through her mouth---not attractive.
Natalie Portman is very pretty and she can act a lot better than Scarlett, but neither one of them had the substance that one looks for in a drama of this sort. Let them stick to what they can do. The fellow who played Henry was certainly hunky and handsome which gave credence to the fact that both sisters fell for him so quickly-but he lacked the power and authority that made Burton so convincing in the role.
The script of Ann of a Thousand Days was much more flattering to Ann. She was shown as an innocent for most of the film and Bujold shone bright and clear in that role, which captured the sympathy of the viewer. I wept at the final scene, when she asked the executioner "if it would hurt" and declared that she had "a tiny neck." In this film, Ann was shown to be a calculating, duplicitous girl from the beginning so that I really didn't care what happened to her.
I am not always a stickler for historical accuracy but in this case I think some pretty big liberties were taken with the facts. Having Henry rape Ann was certainly a violation. Also the question of Ann and her brother having sex--did this happen or not? Was he gay? These are not minor issues--they are important to the plot and should have been shown truthfully.
If you really don't care about what really happened, then you can watch this film and enjoy the pretty people and lush costumes. Although those pretty people are prettier in other films.
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"16th Century Soap Opera At Its Best!"
Added 11/23/2009
"The Other Bolyn Girl" was released to theatres on February 29th, 2008 and became an immediate hit grossing over $75,000,000 at the boxoffice. These were huge numbers considering the movie only cost $35,000,000 to produce. Perhaps it was the fact that television viewers, at the time, were enthralled by Showtime's "The Tudors" and movie-going audiences were inclined to watch a historical piece on King Henry VIII that made this a hit, but "The Other Bolyn Girl" could never have failed; it had all the ingredients of a hit film: stunning photography, a wonderful story that was known to its audience, and enthralling performances by its three leads. "The Other Bolyn Girl" tells the story of 16th-century aristocrats Mary and Anne, sisters, fighting over King Henry VIII. Mary would ultimately be only Henry's mistress(one of many) and Anne would become his second wife(also one of many). Both sisters were trying to better themselves and their family by getting involved with the Monarch, but both failed to realize the King was only in love with two things; his country and his unfulfilled sexual apetite. The sisters are played by Natalie Portman (Anne) and Scarlett Johansson (Mary), but it is Eric Bana, who plays King Henry, that is mesmerizing. He displays many emotions as the King of England; everything from raw sexuality (Eric is breathtaking to look at with his beard) to hatred, passion, love, desire, and vengefulness. The production values of this historical drama are first-rate with beautiful costumes and cinematography. The DVD comes with deleted and extended scenes, featurettes on the film and its historcial figures, and more. WNBC says of the film that it's , "a wonderful, dramatic and powerful saga of the dangers of absolute power. The cast is impeccable". If you enjoy "The Other Bolyn Girl" you will love TV's "The Tudors". That series' first two seasons are available on DVD.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Hated this movie
Added 11/17/2009
This movie played with history and the sisters motivations for doing what they did were muddy. While some of the actors were good (Scarlett Johanssen, Kristin Scott Thomas), the 2 main characters were not very believable. Hated Eric Bana as Henry VIII. He had no fire or passion and wasn't arrogant enough. And I just could not believe Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn. On the whole, skip it and watch The Tudors. Much better and in more depth rendition of same topic. Also, you could go back in time and rent/buy A Man For All Seasons if you really want to see Henry VIII (Peter O'Toole) and Thomas More (Paul Scofield) go at it.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Not so Competent Filmmaking
Added 11/11/2009
"The Other Boleyn Girl" tells the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn, the woman who manipulated Henry the Eighth into separating from the Vatican and who gave birth to Elizabeth, Britain's greatest monarch.
When Catherine of Aragon is unable to produce a male heir for the king (Eric Bana) the Boleyn family plays political intrigue, assigning Anne (Natalie Portman) to be Henry the Eighth's mistress. But Henry the Eighth prefers the younger sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson), and beds her. Dejected and angry Anne secretly marries the young lord Henry Percy, an impetuous act that is rewarded with her exile in France where she completes her education in the ways of man. Upon her return Anne seduces Henry the Eighth, manipulates him into rejecting her younger sister, the queen, and the Vatican. Branded as a witch by the English public Anne gives birth to Elizabeth, and then loses a child in a miscarriage. Fearing for her life and clearly growing insane Anne tries to get her brother George to impregnate her, and the king hears about this and beheads both.
When we first learn that Natalie Portman is to play the wildly ambitious seductress Anne and Scarlett Johansson her wide-eyed innocent sister we're forced to think that there's been a terrible mix-up in casting. But Natalie Portman is the anchor of the film, holding together a flimsy and sometimes incoherent script and yet another half-hearted performance by Scarlett Johansson.
Natalie Portman will be remembered as the greatest star of her generation -- the Audrey Hepburn of our times. She lacks the stunning overwhelming beauty of Audrey Hepburn but she is far more talented and versatile. She was terrible in the Star Wars trilogy but so was everyone else, and since then she has given nothing but competent performances. In "The Other Boleyn Girl" her character isn't all that believable and developed, her supposed transformation halfway through the movie isn't really noticeable, and it's hard to figure out why Henry the Eighth becomes so infatuated with her -- and yet despite all these stark flaws in the script and direction Natalie Portman's still compelling to watch: she's just stunningly beautiful draped in vermillion, and she makes the usually sexy Scarlett Johansson look dull and ditzy.
Ironically Portman's brilliant performance only hurts the film. The film is designed to be a tragedy, centering around a family that suddenly rises and then suddenly falls because of their overwhelming thirst for power. It is this blind famly ambition that would create Anne Boleyn, a woman who's either evil or insane and who almost singlehandedly managed to tear England apart. Countering Anne is good and noble Mary, who almost loses her soul to her family's ambition but in the end learns to trust her goodness. So what does it say about the direction of the film and the film itself when at the end we really don't care about Mary, and we don't want Anne to be beheaded even after we've seen Anne destroy her younger sister, destroy the good queen, and try to bed her brother?
Clearly directors need to learn to control Natalie Portman better. She's not yet as famous and powerful as Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise but already she can warp a film -- in a very uncanny Anne Boleyn way -- around her. The good news is that unlike Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise she is talented, and when she finds a script and meets a director worthy of her talent the result will be truly mesmerizing.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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