The Other Boleyn Girl (movie)
Encyclopedia
The Other Boleyn Girl is a 2008 drama film
directed by Justin Chadwick
. The screenplay by Peter Morgan
was adapted from the 2001 novel of the same name
by Philippa Gregory
. It is a romanticized account of the lives of 16th-century aristocrat
s Mary Boleyn
, one-time mistress
of King Henry VIII
, and her sister, Queen Anne
, who became the monarch's ill-fated second wife, though much history is distorted.
Production studio BBC Films
also owns the rights to adapt the sequel novel, The Boleyn Inheritance
, which tells the story of Anne of Cleves
, Catherine Howard
and Jane Boleyn.
is blamed for England's failure to produce a male heir, Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk
and his brother in law Thomas Boleyn
plan to install Thomas's daughter Anne Boleyn
in the court of Henry VIII of England
. Howard and Boleyn hope Anne will become the King's mistress and potential mother of his son, thereby furthering their own political ambitions, much to the disgust of Thomas's wife and the duke's sister, Lady Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire and Ormond. Although Anne initially refuses because she knows being a mistress can damage her reputation, she agrees to please her father and uncle. Anne's younger sister, Mary
, marries William Carey, even though he had asked for Anne's hand. Her father thought that Anne could do better than William Carey and thus offered Mary as a substitute.
While visiting the Boleyn estate, Henry is injured in a hunting accident, indirectly caused by Anne, and is nursed by Mary. While in her care, Henry becomes smitten with her and invites her to court. With great reluctance, Mary and William agree, knowing what will be expected of her. Mary and Anne become ladies-in-waiting
to Queen Catherine and Henry sends William away on an assignment for the royal court. Separated from her husband, Mary finds herself falling in love with Henry.
Rebellious Anne secretly marries the nobleman Henry Percy
, who was engaged to Mary Talbot
. Anne confides in her brother George, who is overjoyed and tells Mary about the secret marriage. Fearing Anne will ruin her reputation by marrying without the king's consent, Mary alerts her father and uncle about the secret elopement. The men confront Anne, who argues that what has been done before God can't be undone and that the marriage has been consummated. Despite this, the marriage is annulled and she is exiled to France
in disgrace. Anne plans for revenge due to her belief that Mary exiled her to increase her own status.
Despite the scandal, the family's fortunes seem secure when Mary becomes pregnant. However, Elizabeth Boleyn warns Thomas and Norfolk that the king's favour can be taken away as easily as it is given, often with disastrous consequences. Despite her warnings, the men ignore her. Thomas Boleyn becomes Earl of Wiltshire
and George becomes Viscount
Rochford. They receive a number of new grants and estates, so their debts are paid and Henry arranges for George to marry Jane Parker
, despite George wanting nothing to do with her.
When Mary nearly suffers a miscarriage
, she is confined to bed until her child is born. Norfolk recalls Anne to England to keep Henry's attention from wandering to another rival, particularly Jane Seymour
. Still deeply hurt by Mary's betrayal, Anne successfully campaigns to win Henry over, showing she has grown more mature since her exile. By withholding her sexual favours, Anne drives Henry to vow to never again bed his wife or speak to Mary. Anne exacts this promise just after Mary gives birth to the much-anticipated son, Little Henry, making her victory hollow. Shortly afterwards, at Anne's suggestion, Henry sends Mary and her son (Little Henry is dubbed a bastard
) to the country. Shortly after her return, Mary's husband, William, dies from the sweating sickness
.
The ambitious Anne encourages Henry to break from the Roman Catholic Church when the Pope
refuses to annul his marriage to Queen Catherine, despite Henry's insistence that her marriage to his older brother
was consummated. Henry succumbs to Anne's demands, breaks from the Roman Catholic Church, declares himself Supreme Head
of the Church of England
, and gets Thomas Wolsey to annul his marriage to Katherine. The scandal of Anne's brief marriage to Henry Percy threatens her coming marriage to Henry until Mary, the only one Henry will trust, returns to court and lies on Anne's behalf, assuring him her union with Percy was not consummated.
Despite her plan's success, Anne's schemes drive Henry to breaking point and in a fit of rage, sexually assaults her after refusing to lie with him until they are married. Hurt and confused by the attack, a now pregnant Anne must go through with the unhappy marriage to please her family and becomes the new Queen of England. Mary and Anne reach a reconciliation and Mary stays with her sister at court. She meets William Stafford, a brave soldier in the English army, and the two fall deeply in love.
Despite the birth of a healthy daughter, Elizabeth
, Henry angrily blames Anne for his faliure to create a son and legitimate male heir to the throne. He also begins courting Jane Seymour in secret, which doesn't help Anne's slowly crumbling psyche. After she loses a son after birth, a hysterical Anne begs George to impregnate her since Henry will not lie with her. He accepts at first, determined to help his sister, while Mary runs away, disgusted with them both. Before they can go through with it, however, George begins to cry, and Anne decides that they should not sleep with each other. However, George's neglected wife, Jane, witnesses enough of their encounter to become suspicious and hurt (since he will not lie with her). She reports what she has seen and both Anne and George are arrested. Despite the lack of evidence, the two are found unanimously guilty and sentenced to death for treason
, adultery
and incest
. Distraught by news, Elizabeth Boleyn disowns both her husband and brother, vowing never to forgive them for what their greed had done to her children.
Leaving her children in William's care at her country estate, Mary returns to court to plead for her siblings' lives. But, she arrives too late to save George, who is executed in front of a horrified Thomas. Mary begs Henry to spare her sister, referring to Anne as part of herself. The king softens and tells her he would never harm any part of her. Believing that Henry has spared her sister, she leaves to see Anne right before the scheduled execution. The two sisters embrace and truly reconcile with one another. Before she leaves, Anne asks Mary to promise to take care of Elizabeth if anything should happen to her. Mary watches from the crowd as Anne makes her final speech, waiting for the execution to be cancelled as Henry promised. A letter from Henry is given to Mary, which reveals he has decided not to stop the execution and save Anne. It also tells Mary that she was only spared because of his respect for her and warns her never to come to court again. Horrified, she watches as her sister is beheaded
. Mary then fulfills her last promise to Anne and leaves court with the toddler Elizabeth.
The closing captions reveal that Thomas Boleyn, disgraced and alone, died two years after Anne and George's executions. Elizabeth Boleyn died a year after her husband while The Duke of Norfolk was later imprisoned in the Tower. The next three generations of his family – son, grandson and great-grandson – were all executed for treason. True to her word, Elizabeth Boleyn never saw or spoke to her husband and brother again. Henry's break from the Roman Catholic church changed the face of England forever. Meanwhile, Mary married William Stafford and lived happily with him and their children away from the royal court for the rest of her life. The captions also reveal that Henry should not have been concerned about leaving England with a strong heir because, in fact, he did: an heir who would rule England for forty-five years and transform it into one of the most powerful nations in Europe. However, it was not the son he desired, but the strong red-haired girl Anne gave him: Elizabeth
.
, England, though Hever Castle
was not used, despite being the original household of Thomas Boleyn and family from 1505–1539. The Baron's Hall at Penshurst Place
featured, as did Dover Castle
, which stood in for the Tower of London
in the film, and Knole House
in Sevenoaks
was used in several scenes. The home of the Boleyns was represented by Great Chalfield Manor
in Wiltshire
, and other scenes were filmed at locations in Derbyshire
, including Cave Dale
, Haddon Hall
, Dovedale
and North Lees Hall near Hathersage
.
held on February 7–17, 2008. The film earned $9,442,224 in the United Kingdom
, and $26,814,957 in the United States
and Canada
. The combined worldwide gross of the film was $75,598,644, more than double the film's $35 million budget.
formats on June 10, 2008. Extras on both editions include an audio commentary with director Justin Chadwick, deleted and extended scenes, character profiles, and featurettes. The Blu-ray version includes BD-Live capability and an additional picture-in-picture track with character descriptions, notes on the original story, and passages from the original book.
reported that 41% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 133 reviews. One such review said the film was "dull" and needed editing. Metacritic
reported the film had an average score of 51 out of 100, based on 32 reviews.
Manohla Dargis of the New York Times called the film "more slog than romp" and an "oddly plotted and frantically paced pastiche." She added, "The film is both underwritten and overedited. Many of the scenes seem to have been whittled down to the nub, which at times turns it into a succession of wordless gestures and poses. Given the generally risible dialogue, this isn’t a bad thing."
Mick LaSalle
of the San Francisco Chronicle
said, "This in an enjoyable movie with an entertaining angle on a hard-to-resist period of history ... Portman's performance, which shows a range and depth unlike anything she's done before, is the No. 1 element that tips The Other Boleyn Girl in the direction of a recommendation ... [She] won't get the credit she deserves for this, simply because the movie isn't substantial enough to warrant proper attention."
Peter Travers
of Rolling Stone
stated, "The film moves in frustrating herks and jerks. What works is the combustible teaming of Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, who give the Boleyn hotties a tough core of intelligence and wit, swinging the film's sixteenth-century protofeminist issues handily into this one."
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian
awarded the film three out of five stars, describing it as a "flashy, silly, undeniably entertaining Tudor romp" and adding, "It is absurd yet enjoyable, and playing fast and loose with English history is a refreshing alternative to slow and tight solemnity; the effect is genial, even mildly subversive ... It is ridiculous, but imagined with humour and gusto: a very diverting gallop through the heritage landscape."
Sukhdev Sandhu of The Telegraph
said, "This is a film for people who prefer their costume dramas to gallop along at a merry old pace rather than get bogged down in historical detail ... Mining relatively familiar material here, and dramatising highly dubious scenarios, [Peter Morgan] is unable to make the set-pieces seem revelatory or tart ... In the end, The Other Boleyn Girl is more anodyne than it has any right to be. It can't decide whether to be serious or comic. It promises an erotic charge that it never carries off, inducing dismissive laughs from the audience for its soft-focus love scenes soundtracked by swooning violins. It is tasteful, but unappetising."
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Justin Chadwick
Justin Chadwick
Justin Chadwick is an English actor and television and film director.Chadwick began acting at the age of eleven. He graduated from the University of Leicester and in 1991 made his screen debut in London Kills Me...
. The screenplay by Peter Morgan
Peter Morgan
Peter Morgan may refer to:* Peter Morgan , British sports car manufacturer* Peter Morgan , 1978 British Formula Ford champion* Peter Morgan , Wales and British lions international...
was adapted from the 2001 novel of the same name
The Other Boleyn Girl
The Other Boleyn Girl is a historical fiction novel written by British author Philippa Gregory, loosely based on the life of 16th-century aristocrat Mary Boleyn. Reviews were mixed; some said it was a brilliantly claustrophobic look at palace life in Tudor England, while others have consistently...
by Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory
Philippa Gregory is an English novelist.-Early life and academic career:Philippa Gregory was born in Kenya. When she was two years old, her family moved to England. She was a "rebel" at school, but managed to attend the University of Sussex...
. It is a romanticized account of the lives of 16th-century aristocrat
Aristocracy
Aristocracy , is a form of government in which a few elite citizens rule. The term derives from the Greek aristokratia, meaning "rule of the best". In origin in Ancient Greece, it was conceived of as rule by the best qualified citizens, and contrasted with monarchy...
s Mary Boleyn
Mary Boleyn
Mary Boleyn , was the sister of English queen consort Anne Boleyn and a member of the Boleyn family, which enjoyed considerable influence during the reign of King Henry VIII of England...
, one-time mistress
Mistress (lover)
A mistress is a long-term female lover and companion who is not married to her partner; the term is used especially when her partner is married. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. Also the relationship is usually,...
of King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, and her sister, Queen Anne
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
, who became the monarch's ill-fated second wife, though much history is distorted.
Production studio BBC Films
BBC Films
BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It has produced or co-produced some of the most successful British films of recent years, including An Education, StreetDance 3D, Fish Tank, Stage Beauty, A Cock and Bull Story, Nativity! and Match Point.It aims to make strong British films with...
also owns the rights to adapt the sequel novel, The Boleyn Inheritance
The Boleyn Inheritance
The Boleyn Inheritance is a novel by British author Philippa Gregory which was first published in 2006. It is a direct sequel to her previous novel The Other Boleyn Girl, and one of the additions to her six-part series on the Tudor royals...
, which tells the story of Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves was a German noblewoman and the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England and as such she was Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540. The marriage was never consummated, and she was not crowned queen consort...
, Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard
Catherine Howard , also spelled Katherine, Katheryn or Kathryn, was the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, and sometimes known by his reference to her as his "rose without a thorn"....
and Jane Boleyn.
Plot
When Catherine of AragonCatherine of Aragon
Catherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales...
is blamed for England's failure to produce a male heir, Thomas Howard, the Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was a prominent Tudor politician. He was uncle to Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, two of the wives of King Henry VIII, and played a major role in the machinations behind these marriages...
and his brother in law Thomas Boleyn
Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire
Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, KG was an English diplomat and politician in the Tudor era. He was born at the family home, Hever Castle, Kent, which had been purchased by his grandfather Geoffrey Boleyn, who was a wealthy mercer. He was buried at St. Peter's parish church in the village of...
plan to install Thomas's daughter Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
in the court of Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
. Howard and Boleyn hope Anne will become the King's mistress and potential mother of his son, thereby furthering their own political ambitions, much to the disgust of Thomas's wife and the duke's sister, Lady Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire and Ormond. Although Anne initially refuses because she knows being a mistress can damage her reputation, she agrees to please her father and uncle. Anne's younger sister, Mary
Mary Boleyn
Mary Boleyn , was the sister of English queen consort Anne Boleyn and a member of the Boleyn family, which enjoyed considerable influence during the reign of King Henry VIII of England...
, marries William Carey, even though he had asked for Anne's hand. Her father thought that Anne could do better than William Carey and thus offered Mary as a substitute.
While visiting the Boleyn estate, Henry is injured in a hunting accident, indirectly caused by Anne, and is nursed by Mary. While in her care, Henry becomes smitten with her and invites her to court. With great reluctance, Mary and William agree, knowing what will be expected of her. Mary and Anne become ladies-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
to Queen Catherine and Henry sends William away on an assignment for the royal court. Separated from her husband, Mary finds herself falling in love with Henry.
Rebellious Anne secretly marries the nobleman Henry Percy
Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland
Henry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland, KG was an English nobleman, active as a military officer in the north. He is now primarily remembered as the betrothed of Anne Boleyn, whom he was forced to give up before she became involved with King Henry VIII.-Early life:He was eldest son of Henry...
, who was engaged to Mary Talbot
Mary Percy, Countess of Northumberland
Mary Percy , Countess of Northumberland was a courtier and noblewoman during the reign of Henry VIII of England. She was the daughter of George Talbot, 4th Earl of Shrewsbury...
. Anne confides in her brother George, who is overjoyed and tells Mary about the secret marriage. Fearing Anne will ruin her reputation by marrying without the king's consent, Mary alerts her father and uncle about the secret elopement. The men confront Anne, who argues that what has been done before God can't be undone and that the marriage has been consummated. Despite this, the marriage is annulled and she is exiled to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in disgrace. Anne plans for revenge due to her belief that Mary exiled her to increase her own status.
Despite the scandal, the family's fortunes seem secure when Mary becomes pregnant. However, Elizabeth Boleyn warns Thomas and Norfolk that the king's favour can be taken away as easily as it is given, often with disastrous consequences. Despite her warnings, the men ignore her. Thomas Boleyn becomes Earl of Wiltshire
Earl of Wiltshire
The title Earl of Wiltshire is one of the oldest in the Peerage of England, going back to the 12th century. It is currently held by the Marquess of Winchester, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldest son of the marquess....
and George becomes Viscount
Viscount
A viscount or viscountess is a member of the European nobility whose comital title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count .-Etymology:...
Rochford. They receive a number of new grants and estates, so their debts are paid and Henry arranges for George to marry Jane Parker
Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford
Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford was an English noblewoman who lived in the reign of Henry VIII. She was a sister-in-law of Henry's second wife Anne Boleyn and lady-in-waiting to his fifth wife Catherine Howard, with whom she was executed.-Early life:Born Jane Parker, she was the daughter of...
, despite George wanting nothing to do with her.
When Mary nearly suffers a miscarriage
Miscarriage
Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the spontaneous end of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or fetus is incapable of surviving independently, generally defined in humans at prior to 20 weeks of gestation...
, she is confined to bed until her child is born. Norfolk recalls Anne to England to keep Henry's attention from wandering to another rival, particularly Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII. She succeeded Anne Boleyn as queen consort following the latter's execution for trumped up charges of high treason, incest and adultery in May 1536. She died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of...
. Still deeply hurt by Mary's betrayal, Anne successfully campaigns to win Henry over, showing she has grown more mature since her exile. By withholding her sexual favours, Anne drives Henry to vow to never again bed his wife or speak to Mary. Anne exacts this promise just after Mary gives birth to the much-anticipated son, Little Henry, making her victory hollow. Shortly afterwards, at Anne's suggestion, Henry sends Mary and her son (Little Henry is dubbed a bastard
Legitimacy (law)
At common law, legitimacy is the status of a child who is born to parents who are legally married to one another; and of a child who is born shortly after the parents' divorce. In canon and in civil law, the offspring of putative marriages have been considered legitimate children...
) to the country. Shortly after her return, Mary's husband, William, dies from the sweating sickness
Sweating sickness
Sweating sickness, also known as "English sweating sickness" or "English sweate" , was a mysterious and highly virulent disease that struck England, and later continental Europe, in a series of epidemics beginning in 1485. The last outbreak occurred in 1551, after which the disease apparently...
.
The ambitious Anne encourages Henry to break from the Roman Catholic Church when the Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
refuses to annul his marriage to Queen Catherine, despite Henry's insistence that her marriage to his older brother
Arthur, Prince of Wales
Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales was the first son of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and therefore, heir to the throne of England. As he predeceased his father, Arthur never became king...
was consummated. Henry succumbs to Anne's demands, breaks from the Roman Catholic Church, declares himself Supreme Head
Supreme Head
Supreme Head of the Church of England was a title held by King Henry VIII of England signifying his leadership of the Church of England.-History:...
of the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
, and gets Thomas Wolsey to annul his marriage to Katherine. The scandal of Anne's brief marriage to Henry Percy threatens her coming marriage to Henry until Mary, the only one Henry will trust, returns to court and lies on Anne's behalf, assuring him her union with Percy was not consummated.
Despite her plan's success, Anne's schemes drive Henry to breaking point and in a fit of rage, sexually assaults her after refusing to lie with him until they are married. Hurt and confused by the attack, a now pregnant Anne must go through with the unhappy marriage to please her family and becomes the new Queen of England. Mary and Anne reach a reconciliation and Mary stays with her sister at court. She meets William Stafford, a brave soldier in the English army, and the two fall deeply in love.
Despite the birth of a healthy daughter, Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, Henry angrily blames Anne for his faliure to create a son and legitimate male heir to the throne. He also begins courting Jane Seymour in secret, which doesn't help Anne's slowly crumbling psyche. After she loses a son after birth, a hysterical Anne begs George to impregnate her since Henry will not lie with her. He accepts at first, determined to help his sister, while Mary runs away, disgusted with them both. Before they can go through with it, however, George begins to cry, and Anne decides that they should not sleep with each other. However, George's neglected wife, Jane, witnesses enough of their encounter to become suspicious and hurt (since he will not lie with her). She reports what she has seen and both Anne and George are arrested. Despite the lack of evidence, the two are found unanimously guilty and sentenced to death for treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
, adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
and incest
Incest
Incest is sexual intercourse between close relatives that is usually illegal in the jurisdiction where it takes place and/or is conventionally considered a taboo. The term may apply to sexual activities between: individuals of close "blood relationship"; members of the same household; step...
. Distraught by news, Elizabeth Boleyn disowns both her husband and brother, vowing never to forgive them for what their greed had done to her children.
Leaving her children in William's care at her country estate, Mary returns to court to plead for her siblings' lives. But, she arrives too late to save George, who is executed in front of a horrified Thomas. Mary begs Henry to spare her sister, referring to Anne as part of herself. The king softens and tells her he would never harm any part of her. Believing that Henry has spared her sister, she leaves to see Anne right before the scheduled execution. The two sisters embrace and truly reconcile with one another. Before she leaves, Anne asks Mary to promise to take care of Elizabeth if anything should happen to her. Mary watches from the crowd as Anne makes her final speech, waiting for the execution to be cancelled as Henry promised. A letter from Henry is given to Mary, which reveals he has decided not to stop the execution and save Anne. It also tells Mary that she was only spared because of his respect for her and warns her never to come to court again. Horrified, she watches as her sister is beheaded
Decapitation
Decapitation is the separation of the head from the body. Beheading typically refers to the act of intentional decapitation, e.g., as a means of murder or execution; it may be accomplished, for example, with an axe, sword, knife, wire, or by other more sophisticated means such as a guillotine...
. Mary then fulfills her last promise to Anne and leaves court with the toddler Elizabeth.
The closing captions reveal that Thomas Boleyn, disgraced and alone, died two years after Anne and George's executions. Elizabeth Boleyn died a year after her husband while The Duke of Norfolk was later imprisoned in the Tower. The next three generations of his family – son, grandson and great-grandson – were all executed for treason. True to her word, Elizabeth Boleyn never saw or spoke to her husband and brother again. Henry's break from the Roman Catholic church changed the face of England forever. Meanwhile, Mary married William Stafford and lived happily with him and their children away from the royal court for the rest of her life. The captions also reveal that Henry should not have been concerned about leaving England with a strong heir because, in fact, he did: an heir who would rule England for forty-five years and transform it into one of the most powerful nations in Europe. However, it was not the son he desired, but the strong red-haired girl Anne gave him: Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
.
Cast
- Natalie PortmanNatalie PortmanNatalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
as Anne BoleynAnne BoleynAnne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
. Portman was attracted to the role because it was a character that she "hadn’t played before", and describes Anne as "strong yet she can be vulnerable and she’s ambitious and calculating and will step on people but also feels remorse for it." One month before filming began, Portman started taking daily classes to master the English accent under dialect coach Jill McCulloch, who also stayed on set throughout the filming. - Scarlett JohanssonScarlett JohanssonScarlett Johansson is an American actress, model and singer.Johansson made her film debut in North and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo . She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer and Ghost World...
as Mary BoleynMary BoleynMary Boleyn , was the sister of English queen consort Anne Boleyn and a member of the Boleyn family, which enjoyed considerable influence during the reign of King Henry VIII of England...
. Johansson expressed concern over the film being "such a melodramaMelodramaThe term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
tic tale." In response to critics being skeptical about the film featuring American actresses as major British characters, Johansson said "The three foreign actors will be using English accents ... I'll take away the eyebrows and the make-up and you won't notice I'm American." - Eric BanaEric BanaEric Bana is an Australian film and television actor. He began his career as a comedian in the sketch comedy series Full Frontal before gaining critical recognition in the biopic Chopper...
as Henry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
. Bana commented that he was surprised upon being offered the role, and describes the character of Henry as "a man who was somewhat juvenile, and driven by passion and greed", and that he interpreted the character as "this man who was involved in an incredibly intricate, complicated situation, largely through his own doing". In preparation for the role, Bana relied mostly on the script to come up with his own version of the character, and "deliberately stayed away" from other portrayals of Henry in films because he found it "too confusing and restricting". - Jim SturgessJim SturgessJames Anthony "Jim" Sturgess is an English actor and singer-songwriter. His breakthrough role was appearing as Jude in the musical romance drama film Across the Universe .-Early life:...
as George Boleyn, Viscount RochfordGeorge Boleyn, Viscount RochfordGeorge Boleyn, Viscount Rochford was an English courtier and nobleman, and the brother of queen consort Anne Boleyn...
. Though the three siblings are all very tight-knit, George and Anne are closest. George supports and loves Anne for her rebellious and unconventional attitude. He is forced to marry Jane ParkerJane Boleyn, Viscountess RochfordJane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford was an English noblewoman who lived in the reign of Henry VIII. She was a sister-in-law of Henry's second wife Anne Boleyn and lady-in-waiting to his fifth wife Catherine Howard, with whom she was executed.-Early life:Born Jane Parker, she was the daughter of...
, whom he despises for unknown reasons. George is often viewed as the most vulnerable and probably the kindest of the siblings. - Kristin Scott ThomasKristin Scott ThomasKristin A. Scott Thomas, OBE is an English actress who has also acquired French nationality. She gained international recognition in the 1990s for her roles in Bitter Moon, Four Weddings and a Funeral and The English Patient....
as Elizabeth Boleyn, Countess of Wiltshire and Ormond - Mark RylanceMark RylanceMark Rylance is an English actor, theatre director and playwright.As an actor, Rylance found success on stage and screen. For his work in theatre he has won Olivier and Tony Awards among others, and a BAFTA TV Award...
as Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of WiltshireThomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of WiltshireThomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, KG was an English diplomat and politician in the Tudor era. He was born at the family home, Hever Castle, Kent, which had been purchased by his grandfather Geoffrey Boleyn, who was a wealthy mercer. He was buried at St. Peter's parish church in the village of... - David MorrisseyDavid MorrisseyDavid Mark Morrissey is an English actor and director. Morrissey grew up in the Kensington and Knotty Ash areas of Liverpool, and learned to act at the city's Everyman Youth Theatre. At the age of 18, he was cast in the television series One Summer , which won him recognition throughout the country...
as Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of NorfolkThomas Howard, 3rd Duke of NorfolkThomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, KG, Earl Marshal was a prominent Tudor politician. He was uncle to Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, two of the wives of King Henry VIII, and played a major role in the machinations behind these marriages... - Benedict CumberbatchBenedict CumberbatchBenedict Timothy Carlton Cumberbatch is an English film, television, and theatre actor. His most acclaimed roles include Stephen Hawking in the BBC drama Hawking ; William Pitt in the historical film Amazing Grace ; the protagonist Stephen Ezard in the miniseries thriller The Last Enemy ; Paul...
as William Carey - Oliver ColemanOliver ColemanOliver Coleman is a British actor, notable for his portrayal of Toby in The Line of Beauty and of Henry Percy in The Other Boleyn Girl , along with cameo appearances in Primeval and Ashes to Ashes....
as Henry Percy, 6th Earl of NorthumberlandHenry Percy, 6th Earl of NorthumberlandHenry Percy, 6th Earl of Northumberland, KG was an English nobleman, active as a military officer in the north. He is now primarily remembered as the betrothed of Anne Boleyn, whom he was forced to give up before she became involved with King Henry VIII.-Early life:He was eldest son of Henry... - Ana TorrentAna TorrentAna Torrent Bertrán de Lis is a Spanish film actress.Torrent's debut came in 1973 with the starring role as "Ana" in the film El espíritu de la colmena directed by Víctor Erice, when she was seven years old...
as Catherine of AragonCatherine of AragonCatherine of Aragon , also known as Katherine or Katharine, was Queen consort of England as the first wife of King Henry VIII of England and Princess of Wales as the wife to Arthur, Prince of Wales... - Eddie RedmayneEddie RedmayneEdward John David "Eddie" Redmayne is an English actor and model. Redmayne won the 2010 Tony Award as best featured actor in a play for his performance in Red.-Early life:...
as William Stafford - Juno TempleJuno Temple-Early life:Juno Temple was born in London, and is the daughter of producer Amanda Pirie and film director Julien Temple. She grew up in Somerset, England and attended Enmore Primary School, Bedales School, and King's College, Taunton...
as Jane ParkerJane Boleyn, Viscountess RochfordJane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford was an English noblewoman who lived in the reign of Henry VIII. She was a sister-in-law of Henry's second wife Anne Boleyn and lady-in-waiting to his fifth wife Catherine Howard, with whom she was executed.-Early life:Born Jane Parker, she was the daughter of... - Iain MitchellIain MitchellIain Mitchell is a British actor notable for his appearance as Thomas Cromwell in The Other Boleyn Girl and Superintendent Maitland in Agatha Christie's Poirot . Onstage he has appeared in La Cage aux Folles and the adaptation of His Dark Materials.-External links:...
as Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of EssexThomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of EssexThomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, , was an English statesman who served as chief minister of King Henry VIII of England from 1532 to 1540.... - Andrew GarfieldAndrew GarfieldAndrew Russell Garfield is an American-English actor who has appeared in radio, theatre, film, and television. His early roles include the films Lions for Lambs, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and Boy A, which garnered him the 2007 BAFTA Television Award for "Best Actor".Garfield achieved...
as Francis WestonFrancis WestonSir Francis Weston was a gentleman at the court of King Henry VIII of England. He became a friend of the king and gained a sad fame by being one of the men accused alongside Anne Boleyn... - Corinne Galloway as Jane SeymourJane SeymourJane Seymour was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII. She succeeded Anne Boleyn as queen consort following the latter's execution for trumped up charges of high treason, incest and adultery in May 1536. She died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of...
- Bill WallisBill WallisBill Wallis is a British character actor and comedian who has appeared in numerous radio and television roles, as well as in the theatre....
as Archbishop CranmerThomas CranmerThomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build a favourable case for Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon which resulted in the separation of the English Church from... - Constance Stride as young Mary TudorMary I of EnglandMary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
- Maisie SmithMaisie SmithMaisie Lily Smith is an English actress. She has appeared in the feature film The Other Boleyn Girl and has played the regular role of Tiffany Butcher in the BBC soap opera EastEnders since 2008.- Career :...
as young ElizabethElizabeth I of EnglandElizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
Locations
Much of the filming took place in KentKent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, England, though Hever Castle
Hever Castle
Hever Castle is located in the village of Hever near Edenbridge, Kent, south-east of London, England. It began as a country house, built in the 13th century...
was not used, despite being the original household of Thomas Boleyn and family from 1505–1539. The Baron's Hall at Penshurst Place
Penshurst Place
Penshurst Place is a historic building near Tonbridge, Kent, south east of London, England. It is the ancestral home of the Sidney family, and was the birthplace of the great Elizabethan poet, courtier and soldier, Sir Philip Sidney. The original medieval house is one of the most complete examples...
featured, as did Dover Castle
Dover Castle
Dover Castle is a medieval castle in the town of the same name in the English county of Kent. It was founded in the 12th century and has been described as the "Key to England" due to its defensive significance throughout history...
, which stood in for the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
in the film, and Knole House
Knole House
Knole is an English country house in the town of Sevenoaks in west Kent, surrounded by a deer park. One of England's largest houses, it is reputed to be a calendar house, having 365 rooms, 52 staircases, 12 entrances and 7 courtyards...
in Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks
Sevenoaks is a commuter town situated on the London fringe of west Kent, England, some 20 miles south-east of Charing Cross, on one of the principal commuter rail lines from the capital...
was used in several scenes. The home of the Boleyns was represented by Great Chalfield Manor
Great Chalfield Manor
Great Chalfield Manor is an English country house at Great Chalfield, near Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire.The house is a moated manor house built around 1465–1480 for Thomas Tropenell, a modest member of the landed gentry who made a fortune as a clothier...
in Wiltshire
Wiltshire
Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...
, and other scenes were filmed at locations in Derbyshire
Derbyshire
Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...
, including Cave Dale
Cave Dale
Cave Dale is a dry limestone valley in the Derbyshire Peak District, England. It is located at grid reference . The northern end of the dale starts at the village of Castleton where the valley sides are almost perpendicular and over 50 metres in height...
, Haddon Hall
Haddon Hall
Haddon Hall is an English country house on the River Wye at Bakewell, Derbyshire, one of the seats of the Duke of Rutland, occupied by Lord Edward Manners and his family. In form a medieval manor house, it has been described as "the most complete and most interesting house of [its]...
, Dovedale
Dovedale
Dovedale is a popular dale in the Peak District, England. It is owned by the National Trust, and annually attracts a million visitors. The valley is cut by the River Dove and runs for just over between Milldale in the north and a wooded ravine near Thorpe Cloud and Bunster Hill in the south...
and North Lees Hall near Hathersage
Hathersage
Hathersage is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District, in England. It lies on the north bank of the River Derwent, approximately 10 miles west of Sheffield...
.
Theatrical
The film was first released in theaters on February 29, 2008, though its world premiere was held at the 58th Berlin International Film FestivalBerlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
held on February 7–17, 2008. The film earned $9,442,224 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, and $26,814,957 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. The combined worldwide gross of the film was $75,598,644, more than double the film's $35 million budget.
Home media
The film was released in Blu-ray and DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
formats on June 10, 2008. Extras on both editions include an audio commentary with director Justin Chadwick, deleted and extended scenes, character profiles, and featurettes. The Blu-ray version includes BD-Live capability and an additional picture-in-picture track with character descriptions, notes on the original story, and passages from the original book.
Critical reception
The film received mixed reviews. Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that 41% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 133 reviews. One such review said the film was "dull" and needed editing. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported the film had an average score of 51 out of 100, based on 32 reviews.
Manohla Dargis of the New York Times called the film "more slog than romp" and an "oddly plotted and frantically paced pastiche." She added, "The film is both underwritten and overedited. Many of the scenes seem to have been whittled down to the nub, which at times turns it into a succession of wordless gestures and poses. Given the generally risible dialogue, this isn’t a bad thing."
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle is an American Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] [[film reviewer] and the author of two books on pre-[[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]] Hollywood...
of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
said, "This in an enjoyable movie with an entertaining angle on a hard-to-resist period of history ... Portman's performance, which shows a range and depth unlike anything she's done before, is the No. 1 element that tips The Other Boleyn Girl in the direction of a recommendation ... [She] won't get the credit she deserves for this, simply because the movie isn't substantial enough to warrant proper attention."
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
stated, "The film moves in frustrating herks and jerks. What works is the combustible teaming of Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson, who give the Boleyn hotties a tough core of intelligence and wit, swinging the film's sixteenth-century protofeminist issues handily into this one."
Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
awarded the film three out of five stars, describing it as a "flashy, silly, undeniably entertaining Tudor romp" and adding, "It is absurd yet enjoyable, and playing fast and loose with English history is a refreshing alternative to slow and tight solemnity; the effect is genial, even mildly subversive ... It is ridiculous, but imagined with humour and gusto: a very diverting gallop through the heritage landscape."
Sukhdev Sandhu of The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
said, "This is a film for people who prefer their costume dramas to gallop along at a merry old pace rather than get bogged down in historical detail ... Mining relatively familiar material here, and dramatising highly dubious scenarios, [Peter Morgan] is unable to make the set-pieces seem revelatory or tart ... In the end, The Other Boleyn Girl is more anodyne than it has any right to be. It can't decide whether to be serious or comic. It promises an erotic charge that it never carries off, inducing dismissive laughs from the audience for its soft-focus love scenes soundtracked by swooning violins. It is tasteful, but unappetising."