AAR

[kspears]

Just watched The Other Boleyn Girl on DVD over the weekend and I have to ask...What was that? I read the book that the movie was supposedly based upon. I enjoyed the book and found Philippa Gregory's take on the Boleyn sisters interesting, although I don't aggree with it. But, did I miss something? What was the movie based upon, I think the only thing that made it's way to the movie intact was the title.

[xina]

I haven't seen it, but intend to one of these days. When I first heard there would be a movie, I was excited because I loved, loved the book. However, I saw an interview with Natalie Portman on Letterman, and she stated that the movie was mostly about the competition between the 2 sisters...and the sex. I was tipped off with that statement because I thought that is not what the book represented to me. To me, it was about Anne and her Mary digging themselves deeper and deeper into Henry's sort of twisted idea of a love affair...then finding themselves in trouble, and that does not sound at all what I've heard of the movie.

[kspears]

Well, it's been a long time since I read the book and I remember all of the intrigue and none of that was in the movie. George Boleyn was hardly in the movie and if I remember the book correctly, he played an enormous part in it. And Eric Bana (loved him in Munich) was no Henry VIII. My recommendation, if you want to see a movie about Henry the VIII and his wives, stick with the really old one from Masterpiece theater starring Keith Mitchell. Sure the sets are sparse, but the story is good and Keith Mitchell makes a better Henry VIII then Eric Bana or Jonathan Rhys Meyers. Also, Mary Boleyn had two children while she was married to her first husband, the first child was a girl, in the movie it's a boy (I don't remember what it was in the book). It's rumored that both of these children were Henry's, which means that their affair would have had to have lasted a couple of years.

Also, Mary Boleyn's daughter Catherine Carey (had 15 children) was the mother of Lettice Knollys and Lettice Knollys gave Elizabeth I all kinds of headaches. Lettice married Elizabeth's favourite Robert Dudley and was the mother of Robert Devereux. History is so interesting without rewrites.

[xina]

[kspears]

I like the Richard Burton/Genevieve Bujold one also. You know what I think is interesting about the whole thing, is what must they (Anne and Henry) really have been like. Since we don't really know her exact date of birth, she was either 18 or 24 when a much older Henry became so enamored with her that he just had to have her, divorce/annulled his first wife, made other countries his enemy, changed the religion of Great Britain, and killed a number of his friends and enemies. What does that say about them?

And on Lettice Knollys (another interesting woman) there is an old historical fiction book about her by Victoria Holt "My Enemy the Queen" that I remember reading years and years ago that I really liked.

[LeeB.]

The best things about The Other Boleyn Girl movie were the scenery and the costumes. How did they think they could condense a huge book into two hours is beyond me.

Eric Bana was awful. Scarlett Johansson was pretty good but I don't think Natalie Portman had it in her to play Anne Boleyn. That part was way over her head.
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[Jane G]

I haven't read the book, but for me, the movie was ruined by the fact that I'd been watched most of the first season of The Tudors. That show just went so much more in depth on certain issues that the movie skimmed over, or completely ignored, and just generally wasn't as good.
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Jane AAR

[LeeB.]

[xina]

[LeeB.]

[xina]

[Amairwyn]

I watched The Other Boleyn Girl and didn't like it. I haven't read the book yet, since I didn't really like the last of Philippa Gregory's books I read, and the movie certainly didn't encourage me to do so.

And I too thought that the incest charge was made up against Anne, along with the adultery charges also, just because Henry wanted to get rid of her.

Also, Anne is one of my favorite historical heroines, so the way she was portrayed probably has to do with my dislike of the movie. I see her as a strong-willed women who knew what she wanted.
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Light in darkness, lift me up from here
Give me your whole wings,
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Enter- Within Temptation

[xina]

[Cora]

[Karaa]

I liked the BBC's TV adaptation with Jodhi May as Anne and Natascha McElhone as Mary better than the Johansson/Portman movie. Probably because Jodhi May is such a terrific, intense actress and she always seems to get her characters right.