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SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!SPOILERS!
First of all, can I just say... SO HISTORICALLY INACCURATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I admit it. I love the Tudor period of history. So much so that I've studied it. There was enough drama, there was no reason to try and make it worse. The movie starts off and makes it's first mistake in under 5 minutes. Sir Thomas Boleyn makes the comment that Mary is the younger sister and Anne the oldest. Wrong. History shows Anne as the youngest of the Boleyn children. True, she was not the prettiest (in fact she had an extra fingernail and several moles that were referred to as "Devil's teats" and she had dark skin when fair skin was prettier, but she held a certain allure that is mainly attributed to her eyes.), but she was the favorite.
First off, Scarlett Johannson's character, Mary Boleyn, was real. But that's about as historical as she goes. She was not this perfect and pure little girl that played by the rules of propriaty. No. She was a slut! The only reason history is aware of her existance is due to the fact that she had affairs. She and her sister spent a great deal of time at the French court. Mary was sent home before Anne was due to her affairs. She started off by sleeping with the French king, and when he grew tired of her and stopped sleeping with her as often she took up with other male members of the court. In fact, the French king was recorded as saying "I call her my English mare, because I ride her so often." After the not-so-secret affairs made it to public ear she was sent home because the current queen was very strict on her ladies giving into courtly temptations. Then she began her affair with Henry Tudor, or King Henry VIII. And the only proof to that affair is in a letter written to the Pope concerning his relationship with Anne Boleyn.
See, Henry Tudor fell in love with Anne Boleyn and that came at a time when his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, stopped having her periods and could no longer bear children, specifically a much desired and needed son in order to continue the Tudor line. In an attempt to divorce Katherine and marry Anne he sent two letters to the Pope. One asking that he be allowed to divorce Katherine and marry someone else of his choosing. His reason for divorcing Katherine was that for six short months she was married to his older brother, Prince Arthur, who died six months into their marriage. The rumor was that he was too sickly to consummate their marriage and left his widow a virgin. Still, to be on the safe side, the current Pope granted a bull saying that she could marry Prince Henry, her late husband's younger brother and the now heir to the English throne, whether she consummated her first marriage or not. Still, all believed she was a virgin at the time, it was the easiest solution to getting her married to the younger son. The problem was, that there were certain forbidden things like, you couldn't marry someone if you had a sexual relationship with a sibling or parent. Still, King Henry VIII wanted to do the exact same thing he was saying was wrong to get him out of his first marriage and into his second. He wrote a second letter asking that he be pardoned for marry someone within the forbidden ranks of afinity. Meaning he either had an affair with Anne Boleyn's sister, Mary, or her mother, Elizabeth. History chooses to believe it was the sister and not the mother.
As for Natalie Portman's character, Anne Boleyn, is possibly my favorite historical figure. Here she's played pretty well. She's manipulative and cold, but it doesn't show the great affection Henry had for her. He was madly in love with her and treated her above everyone else. In one scene of the movie they depict Henry raping Anne when his 'divorce' was final. Of course we don't know what their first sexual experience was, but I highly doubt that the man that waited about five years to finally sleep with his beloved raped her in the end. If that was the kind of man he was, he could have done that long ago and been done with it. The entire movie contradicts the fact that history shows that Henry VIII adored Anne Boleyn and gave her whatever she wanted until it became apparent that she would never give him a son as she had promised. They didn't show that he completely adored his daughter with Anne, Princess Elizabeth, and flaunted her in front of visiting dignitaries.
Another thing. There was only one brief mention of Cardinal Wolsey in the entire movie. Wolsey was, in fact, played a major role in the kingdom and Henry's life up until Anne Boleyn put all her efforts into ruining him. One more inaccuracy there, the ending of her relationship/betrothal (historically they never married, he just promised her that he'd marry her) was an act of Wolsey. He ended their relationship, but only as a messenger. The king wanted her for himself and refused to give them permission to marry, therefore ending their relationship, but Wolsey basically took the blame and sent Percy back to his original betrothed. This pissed off Anne and she used all her power as the King's love to ruin the Cardinal, and eventually he fell from grace with the King and stripped of all his official duties. So where was the Cardinal in this movie? Why was it never mentioned that her father and uncle's whole purpose for pushing Anne on Henry was to take Cardinal Wolsey down?
I wish I could like this movie. I really do. But the historical inaccuracies were just so great that I found myself picking each and every thing apart. There was so much drama and scandal in this period of history. It was improper to show your ankles in public but nearly everyone turned a blind eye to the fact that everyone was fucking everyone. Why did they feel the need to try and add more drama to it? It didn't need it. And why mess with history? I don't think there's a point to it.
Still, you find it here on the Internet Movie Database. Hope you could enjoy it more than me.
First of all, can I just say... SO HISTORICALLY INACCURATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, I admit it. I love the Tudor period of history. So much so that I've studied it. There was enough drama, there was no reason to try and make it worse. The movie starts off and makes it's first mistake in under 5 minutes. Sir Thomas Boleyn makes the comment that Mary is the younger sister and Anne the oldest. Wrong. History shows Anne as the youngest of the Boleyn children. True, she was not the prettiest (in fact she had an extra fingernail and several moles that were referred to as "Devil's teats" and she had dark skin when fair skin was prettier, but she held a certain allure that is mainly attributed to her eyes.), but she was the favorite.
First off, Scarlett Johannson's character, Mary Boleyn, was real. But that's about as historical as she goes. She was not this perfect and pure little girl that played by the rules of propriaty. No. She was a slut! The only reason history is aware of her existance is due to the fact that she had affairs. She and her sister spent a great deal of time at the French court. Mary was sent home before Anne was due to her affairs. She started off by sleeping with the French king, and when he grew tired of her and stopped sleeping with her as often she took up with other male members of the court. In fact, the French king was recorded as saying "I call her my English mare, because I ride her so often." After the not-so-secret affairs made it to public ear she was sent home because the current queen was very strict on her ladies giving into courtly temptations. Then she began her affair with Henry Tudor, or King Henry VIII. And the only proof to that affair is in a letter written to the Pope concerning his relationship with Anne Boleyn.
See, Henry Tudor fell in love with Anne Boleyn and that came at a time when his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, stopped having her periods and could no longer bear children, specifically a much desired and needed son in order to continue the Tudor line. In an attempt to divorce Katherine and marry Anne he sent two letters to the Pope. One asking that he be allowed to divorce Katherine and marry someone else of his choosing. His reason for divorcing Katherine was that for six short months she was married to his older brother, Prince Arthur, who died six months into their marriage. The rumor was that he was too sickly to consummate their marriage and left his widow a virgin. Still, to be on the safe side, the current Pope granted a bull saying that she could marry Prince Henry, her late husband's younger brother and the now heir to the English throne, whether she consummated her first marriage or not. Still, all believed she was a virgin at the time, it was the easiest solution to getting her married to the younger son. The problem was, that there were certain forbidden things like, you couldn't marry someone if you had a sexual relationship with a sibling or parent. Still, King Henry VIII wanted to do the exact same thing he was saying was wrong to get him out of his first marriage and into his second. He wrote a second letter asking that he be pardoned for marry someone within the forbidden ranks of afinity. Meaning he either had an affair with Anne Boleyn's sister, Mary, or her mother, Elizabeth. History chooses to believe it was the sister and not the mother.
As for Natalie Portman's character, Anne Boleyn, is possibly my favorite historical figure. Here she's played pretty well. She's manipulative and cold, but it doesn't show the great affection Henry had for her. He was madly in love with her and treated her above everyone else. In one scene of the movie they depict Henry raping Anne when his 'divorce' was final. Of course we don't know what their first sexual experience was, but I highly doubt that the man that waited about five years to finally sleep with his beloved raped her in the end. If that was the kind of man he was, he could have done that long ago and been done with it. The entire movie contradicts the fact that history shows that Henry VIII adored Anne Boleyn and gave her whatever she wanted until it became apparent that she would never give him a son as she had promised. They didn't show that he completely adored his daughter with Anne, Princess Elizabeth, and flaunted her in front of visiting dignitaries.
Another thing. There was only one brief mention of Cardinal Wolsey in the entire movie. Wolsey was, in fact, played a major role in the kingdom and Henry's life up until Anne Boleyn put all her efforts into ruining him. One more inaccuracy there, the ending of her relationship/betrothal (historically they never married, he just promised her that he'd marry her) was an act of Wolsey. He ended their relationship, but only as a messenger. The king wanted her for himself and refused to give them permission to marry, therefore ending their relationship, but Wolsey basically took the blame and sent Percy back to his original betrothed. This pissed off Anne and she used all her power as the King's love to ruin the Cardinal, and eventually he fell from grace with the King and stripped of all his official duties. So where was the Cardinal in this movie? Why was it never mentioned that her father and uncle's whole purpose for pushing Anne on Henry was to take Cardinal Wolsey down?
I wish I could like this movie. I really do. But the historical inaccuracies were just so great that I found myself picking each and every thing apart. There was so much drama and scandal in this period of history. It was improper to show your ankles in public but nearly everyone turned a blind eye to the fact that everyone was fucking everyone. Why did they feel the need to try and add more drama to it? It didn't need it. And why mess with history? I don't think there's a point to it.
Still, you find it here on the Internet Movie Database. Hope you could enjoy it more than me.
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