“The Other Boleyn Girl”
I have to remember I am an unusual person. A movie without sex scenes, jokes, and innuendo is already better on my scale. Sex is private, it shouldn’t be seen and should be spoken of discreetly and respectfully. This movie is specifically about the sexual relations of King Henry VIII and how others use his tastes for their social advancement. I must have known that, perhaps I did, but I wanted to know about the historical relationships.
We begin by meeting the Boleyn children. I don’t know much of the actual history. The movie focuses on the sisters Mary and Anne, the famous 2nd wife of the king, and their close brother George. The immediate concern is their profitable marriages. We see Mary wed to an unambitious but affectionate man. An uncle visits and wants to parade a niece under the nose of the king, whose first queen, Catherine of Aragon has delivered a stillborn child and has yet to deliver a male heir. The challenge is given to Anne but when she makes a mistake her sister is sent in to help and the characteristics which set her apart from her sister, honesty and gentleness draw Henry to her. He brings her to court as a friend for the Queen along with her family. Even Mary’s husband is given a job separate from her and must hear the uncle’s inquiry into whether his wife satisfied the king.
At first Mary is following orders but when Henry offers to send her husband away you know she is enjoying the personal attention. She becomes pregnant. Anne gets secretly married to a man she eyed. When Mary betrays her sister’s confidence to their family, the marriage is ignored, the man is forced to honor his previous royaly-approved engagement and Anne is sent/ banished to France to entertain the French queen. They don’t want her actions to soil Mary’s reputation. When Mary is put on bed rest and no longer in the King’s presence, Anne is returned to keep the King’s attention on the Boleyn’s. Anne has become even more coniving and ambitious. She attracts and then torments the king, pretending to care for her sister’s situation. She tells the king he may have hope of bedding her just as Mary gives birth to a son. This should please the king (though how can this be an heir when he has a queen) but he chooses the hope of a relationship with Anne and the son becomes an unrecognized bastard.
Anne sends Mary and the boy home so she can work on tempting the king away from the queen. The queen is a Catholic Spaniard and England is under the authority of the Pope. Anne convinces the Henry he is doing a great thing creating his own church and ending the foreign influence. Henry somehow ends his marriage and sends Catharine away. After tearing apart his kingdom for Anne, he rapes her. She is “great with child” at their wedding and is then coronated. Many citizens hate her, claiming she is a witch who used devlish powers to control Henry. Her first child is a girl, Elizabeth, who later becomes the Virgin Queen. She has to force the king to sleep with her so she can have a son. She miscarries the 2nd child and fears for her life. She convinces her brother to commit incest. In the movie he doesn’t follow through so she agrees to admit her loss to Henry. But not before the girl George was forced to marry (a ward to the Queen) tells the king she witnessed her husband, who would not consumate their own marriage, bed his sister. Mary goes between home and court trying to save her sister and brother but ultimately their are both executed.
A main theme was the burden of women to follow orders and allow their husbands to think their have all the ideas. I saw the less powerful men also forced into situations. It was Mr. Boleyn who was convinced by his wife’s brother to complicate the lives of his children. George is forced into a relationship, all of which should benefit his family. The character of Mary weds a former employee, both of whom are fed up with her family, and happily raise Elizabeth and Mary’s first son. I predict Oscar nominations for acting and costumes, etc. but this was not a pleasant movie to watch.
It’s interesting to hear your take on the movie. I read the book not too long ago and found it absolutely riveting (though not entirely pleasant …) In the book the incest part is never really stated flat out, but it is implied (I think that’s the charge on which George was executed, historically speaking, but there’s no way to know for sure if it took place.)