Novel Adapted to Intriguing Movie

By Broadside Staff Reporter Emily Sharrer

In the new film The Other Boleyn Girl, adapted from the novel by Philippa Gregory, casting was ideal with Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn and Scarlett Johansson as her lesser known sister, Mary Boleyn.

The movie is a heart-wrenching history lesson brought to life, telling the story of King Henry VIII, his bride Katherine of Aragon and his tumultuous affairs with both Boleyn girls.

Even if period flicks are not necessarily your thing, I think this one is definitely worth a shot. After all, you can’t go wrong with striking actors and a plot that includes lots of sex, revenge, jealousy and a family feud.
First of all, if I had been taught more things like this in history class, I might have actually had the mind to pay attention. Sure, everyone knows about Anne Boleyn, but I did not even know there was another Boleyn girl or that there was such a fascinating story behind their lives. The movie embellishes the shockingly true foundation story of Henry VIII who, seeking a male heir, takes Mary Boleyn as a mistress while still married to Katherine of Aragon.
Later, Henry becomes infatuated with Anne Boleyn, who will only sleep with him if they become married, leading Henry to annul his marriage to Katherine and marry Anne, only to betray her in the end as well, when she fails to produce a male heir.

The plot is set up nicely for several steamy sex scenes between Henry VIII, who is played by Eric Bana, and Anne and Mary, and unfortunately, some rather disturbing birthing scenes. The movie accurately paints what life would have been like for women in the 16th century, as well as day to day life for the upper class.

For dramatic effect, however, some details of the Boleyn story are made to pique the audiences’ interest and to connect all events in the story to one another, but who is complaining? After all, in real life, Henry VIII was not good looking at all, and I don’t think the movie would have been as intriguing without Bana marching around in those frilly 16th century get-ups.

Jim Sturgess, of Across the Universe, did not look too shabby either, playing George Boleyn, brother of Mary and Anne.

Despite the aesthetically pleasing aspects of the film, there was not much else to be happy about while watching the film. The entire theater was completely somber for the entire two hour flick, as ultimately every detail that unraveled was depressing in some way, shape or form.
You have to assume that a movie made around Anne Boleyn’s life and untimely death would have to be just flat out disappointing. But even so, there might have been a total of two scenes where somebody was not talking about getting used by the king, getting hurt physically or emotionally or foreshadowing some awful event soon to come.

Because the ending of the movie is already pretty evident for those of us who went through a high school history course, watching the movie reminded me of a horror flick, like when the killer is in the house and the protagonist is walking right into his trap and you’re yelling at the screen for them to “Stop! Get out of the house!” It was like watching that, only based in old-time England and you cannot believe how stupid and despicable the characters are.
The whole time I wanted to shake the Boleyn girls’ uncle, played by David Morrissey, who was essentially trading women to the king, and tell him he was ruining everything since I already knew how the movie turned out.

Knowing the end, however, did not in the least bit ruin my movie experience. There are plenty of twists and surprises that you could not possibly guess to keep you entertained right up until the last moment, so that should not prevent you from checking out this movie.

You definitely should check out this movie. It is interesting on so many levels.

Whether you are intrigued with the story of Anne or Henry VIII, or you do not know what happened to Anne Boleyn, if you want to see how good you have it compared to women of the 16th century, or if you really just like Portman, Johansson, Bana or Sturgess, it is a downright good flick.
Just be prepared, however, to be depressed for a day or two following the movie,, and believe you me, you will probably end up Googling what is fact and what is fiction when it comes to the hard-to-swallow details of this film.