Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.

This does not look like my cup of tea. But I’d like to be wrong. I find a mediocre period piece to be more painful than, say, a mediocre action film. There’s just something about the dress-up phoniness of one of these when they don’t work.

It’s encouraging to hear from Mastidon that this one is something special. I look forward to checking it out at the end of the month. For now, here’s Mastidon’s take on it:

THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL
Directed by: Justin Chadwick
Starring: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Eric Bana
Release Dates: US - February 29th, UK - March 7th
4 Stars out of 5

First let me say, on paper this seemed like the kind of movie I usually hate - a pretentious historical piece with over-the-top acting and a boring storyline. Luckily, this film is neither pretentious, nor boring and I must admit I enjoyed it thoroughly. Based on the book of the same name, the film tells the little known story of the mother of Elizabeth I and her sister. Another name for this film could have easily been Elizabeth The Prequel as that is exactly what it is.

***SPOILERS***

Set during the rein of Henry VIII (Eric Bana), the king is desperate to have a male heir. His wife the queen, Catherine of Aragon, has only given birth to a daughter and several other still-born children. The king's advisors see an opportunity to gain power by giving the king a mistress in the form of Anne Boleyn (Natalie Portman). Anne's younger sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson) had just married a local merchant set for a quite and uneventful life. When the king comes to the Boleyn manor, he immediately falls for Anne until getting hurt while on a hunting expedition. Mary nurses the king back to health and the king immediately falls for her. Ordered to the royal court, she unwillingly becomes the king's mistress. Her husband gets sent away so the king can have her to himself. Mary deeply falls in love with the king.

Anne secretly marries a man who is betrothed to another woman. As punishment, her father sends her to France. Before leaving, Anne's mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) tells her to learn everything she can about the manipulation of men from the French queen. She stays in France for several months until Mary gets pregnant with the king's bastard child. Fearing the loss of power, Anne's father summons Anne to return to become the king's mistress. Once back, Anne wants nothing to do with becoming a mistress but instead desires to be queen. By denying her affections to Henry, she drives him insane with lust. She convinces the king to never speak to Mary again and to have her and his male bastard son sent away. She also convinces him to have his 24 year marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. In order to do this, Henry had to split all ties with the Catholic church and to form a new church, The Church of England. This one act forever changed the country to what it is today. Anne then marries Henry after he rapes her. She gives birth to a daughter, Elizabeth. She gets pregnant a second time only to have a miscarriage of a son. Out of desperation, she asks her bother to try and impregnate her, but he refuses. The word gets around the royal court that Anne had sex with her brother. They are both ordered to be executed. Despite Mary's efforts, Anne is beheaded in public. Elizabeth then is raised by Mary..

***END SPOILERS****

There have been a few complaints on this film that it's not realistic enough, as this period in time was very dirty and much harsher than what was depicted in the film. And that in its climatic scene, it does not show all of the gore of the main event instead of cutting away. For me, neither mattered as this is a story about sibling rivalry and the manipulations of people and how that plays out in the day-to-day of royal life.

This is Justin Chadwick's first feature having only directed shorts previously. He does a great job especially for his first time out with an A list cast. Light-years better than FIREFLIES IN THE GARDEN, which was the other major film by a first-time director with an A list cast that I saw in Berlin. Definitely don't judge this movie by its poster. Beautifully shot with great close-ups to view the emotion and intensity, this is a story that lives on the strong performances of the actors together with great directing. The film certainly qualifies as a great date movie with a bit of education thrown in. Take your spouse and have a wonderful night out.

Ciao for now,

-Mastidon