Cast: Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Kristin Scott Thomas

Director: Justin Chadwick

Screenplay: Peter Morgan

Running time: 1 hr 55 mins

Genre: Historical Drama



CRITIQUE:


Spare us the history, all we know about Anne Boleyn is that apart from being the second of the six wives of King Henry VIII, she was the first of them to have her head hacked off. Now THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL aspires to fill in the gaps of Anne’s her-story, about her sly to-ing and fro-ing in the Tudor court, beguiling men and besotting anyone that laid eyes on her, especially the King. However, funnily enough, we arrive on our senses and realise that this is not only Anne’s story, but also her lesser-known sister, Mary Boleyn, to whom the title enigmatically refers to. Yet this is another venture into historical drama, and historians, just like ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE’s historical inaccuracies present to which Jonathan Ross claims to have a story “as though ripped off from Wikipedia”, THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL is by no means historically precise. To anyone who has read the novel of basis by Philippa Gregory will have their eyebrows raised on stakes that the book’s elder sister, which is Mary, becomes the younger one in the film. To serve the film’s purpose? Perhaps yes, as Mary’s character is taken as the central heart of the tale. We may not know if all that has been presented on screen really happened, but as long we stay grounded on the fact that this is a yarn of fiction based on history, it comes out as an intriguing, bodice-ripping, steamy and entertaining look into the 16th century England. The modernist THE TUDORS might have offered this already to the television audience, but THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL is a different take into the tale of the Tudor court, revolving around the tale of the two sisters.


It is set in the middle of the 16th century, when the whole nation’s future lies in the birth of a male heir. King Henry VIII’s wife, the Spanish Catherine of Aragon, could not bear a son, thus crumbling the prospect of the monarchy. Hope, nonetheless, exist in the sumptuous figures of the Boleyn nobility. It turns out that the younger, humbler and tender-hearted Mary (Scarlett Johansson) appealed to the King (Eric Bana), overshadowing the original prospect that was Anne (Natalie Portman), the cunning, manipulative, ambitious elder sister. What results is a series of bitchslapping – ahem, no actual slapping ensues, but a subversive battle between two hot foxes, winning the admiration of the King. What is more, when Mary’s son was declared to be a bastard (no wedding ceremony between her and the King), it was then Anne’s time to step into the spotlight, fresh from the royal courts of France, more pruned, more quick-witted and highly intelligent, she becomes the driving force of the film, the manipulating machine that gears the whole history forwards – only then to realise later the human in desperation and plea in her, a soul crying for clemency.


The film stumbles here and there, most especially in its too fast-paced editing that it jerks you to another scene that barely leaves you ‘sinking your thoughts’ from the last one. From that alone, the picture becomes almost unsympathetic. The absurdist dialogue from the Oscar-bagging Peter Morgan, who won Best Screenplay for THE QUEEN, is a panicky surprise with some unevenness in his script. The line thrown to Anne “Will you accept the challenge?” feels anachronistic, as though immersed in some sort of a game to be played. He redeems himself, however, in some of the film’s best parts, one in Kristin Scott Thomas banter that “Women are traded like cattle for the amusement of men”, or Scarlett Johansson’s quietly moving “She’s my sister, therefore other half of me”, and Natalie Portman’s distressed cry of desperation “My life depends on it!”.


THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL’s ace, meanwhile, lies of its perfectly casted set of actors. Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson ignites cinematic fire alight. The performances of these two actresses, inarguably two of the finest in their generation, are worth the main ticket alone. Johansson gives a sincere, understated generosity to the character of Mary, and still equally delivers a sultry aura through parted lips and shy smiles. Natalie Portman, in the interim, is a convincing embodiment of Anne Boleyn’s slippery morality; an intelligent portrait of a woman fed with opportunity and drives an ambition to her limits, making her the Queen of England, yet dissolves into devastation as she could not produce a male heir. Portman’s gestures in the court sparkle with wit, her frolicking with the King a furtive hint of a political strategist, and her quavering figure at the end pulls of a stunning character arc that would surely make you think straight that Portman is just perfect. Eric Bana as King Henry VIII has got some historical details wrong about him (he’s supposed to be a redhead), but still gives gravitas and weight to the role. Jim Sturgess as the only Boleyn boy, the sisters’ only brother is underused, but provides the necessary standing of the character.


But to reduce the whole film into a campy romp of two women fighting it out of who gets to be in bed with the King is a political sarcasm. If you look closer, there is the essence of the destiny of women being shaped and controlled under patriarchal decisions, the crumbling of relationships of siblings due to ambition, greed and the corruptive effects of power – all set in the times to which they live – more than just the surface of tantalising cleavages, heaving of bosoms, throwing of sultry looks, and sexy whispers. Oh, and it’s gorgeously photographed too.


THE FINAL WORD:


This is soap opera circa 16th century, the good girl and the bad girl set in the battle of b%$£#@! Nevertheless, it may be a flawed piece of filmmaking and inaccuracy of storytelling, it’s also an entertaining yarn into the Tudor intrigue, rooted by exceptionally, heart-poundingly brilliant performances by Portman and Johansson.


VERDICT: B+