The Other Boleyn Girl
Published 2010-12-29
Film info
- Title The Other Boleyn Girl
- Director Justin Chadwick
- Year 2008
- Run time 1hr 48m
- Genres Drama, Romance
- Tagline Two sisters divided for the love of a king
- Cast Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas, Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne, Andrew Garfield
Adapted from author Philippa Gregory's historical novel of the same name, director Justin Chadwick's atmospheric period drama follows the fierce competition between sisters Mary and Anne Boleyn to win the affections of the Tudor king, Henry VIII. Anne and Mary Boleyn are under pressure from their father and uncle to help maintain the family's rich legacy and ensure their further prosperity by winning the affections of none other than the King of England.
Live Blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1:29 | A scary world where you are marrying kids off at about six years old, simply to get ahead. |
| 3:37 | I don't know the historical story of this, but I think I prefer Natalie to Scarlett. |
| 5:31 | He shouldn't tell him in front of all those people, even if he is the King. |
| 6:06 | It's Sherlock Holmes! |
| 7:01 | There are quite a lot of people in this. I am confused already. |
| 11:27 | I'll take that as a yes. |
| 12:58 | They are wearing the same clothes. That's weird. |
| 15:03 | It's a strange shape, the dresses make the women. How fashion has changed. |
| 16:15 | It must be quite fun to play Henry VIII. 'Specially before he got fat. |
| 17:42 | I think she is actually scaring him more than attracting him. |
| 19:56 | And now she's almost killed him. She is suspiciously like me. |
| 22:54 | He's sneaky, that king. |
| 26:17 | She can sing really, Ms Scarlett. She's pretending. |
| 31:56 | "Your face is like the sun. One shouldn't gaze too long." Ahhh, if only he'd gone for "red hot and blotchy." |
| 34:20 | Who is Stafford? |
| 36:26 | In that day and age, you couldn't really plan the whole children thing though. I mean, you can't really now either. |
| 38:14 | Anne ran away to get married. She is the best one. |
| 41:14 | "Not by stamping their little feet..." Aww, that's one way of achieving things though. |
| 43:59 | What a rubbish way to live. I'd just run away. |
| 46:48 | Ah-ha! See, you can't plan everything. |
| 49:22 | She is still quite feisty. Keeps her father on his toes. |
| 51:01 | This film is quite dark, I can't see what's going on half the time. Silly history pre-electricity. |
| 53:49 | What does the Queen do all this time, while the king is checking up on his pregnant mistress and tying to lure her sister? |
| 56:30 | When did she start loving him? She didn't want to be anywhere near him five minutes ago. |
| 1:03:37 | Does that mean the husband is banished too? |
| 1:11:59 | Poor Queen. |
| 1:15:31 | She is so very sure she can give him a son. |
| 1:19:59 | Aww, I still don't know who Stafford is, but he's lovely. |
| 1:24:48 | I'm amazed that a) Mary would stay and watch all of this and b) the King hasn't looked at her again. |
| 1:29:10 | My God, she's gone properly mental. She may not be the best of the two anymore. |
| 1:35:35 | She can plead not guilty all she likes, but she certainly thought about it. |
| 1:42:16 | Is goodliest a word? I want to use it. |
| 1:44:05 | Beheading is pretty grim. |
| 1:46:37 | How come Elizabeth got to be Queen and not the Spanish lady's daughter? |
Thoughts
From one film about the monarchy to another, the BBC had me thinking about Kings and Queens for days! As ever, I didn't know anywhere near enough about the history behind the story, but I figured it wasn't quite as scandalous as the film makes out. Maybe.
It's an interesting enough story, but the film felt long and drawn out, like the content could have been covered in about half the time. The two don't look like sisters, and the relationship between Anne and the King makes no sense because he never really showed any signs of actually liking her. Still, it made me curious to learn a bit more about this bit of history, and that can only be a good thing.
Rating: 2 / 5