Product Description

An extraordinary tale of sex, passion and royal intrigue. This is the little-known story of Mary Boleyn who was mistress to King Henry VIII before he married her older sister, Anne. Inspired by Philippa Gregory's best selling novel, this film is about great families jockeying for position and using their daughters as pawns in a deadly game. Set during one of the most notorious periods in British regal history, it is a powerful narrative and at its heart is the relationship between two rivals - the Boleyn sisters.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19791 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2008-10-21
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 90 minutes

Features

• An extraordinary tale of sex, passion and royal intrigue. This is the little-known story of Mary Boleyn who was mistress to King Henry VIII before he married her older sister, Anne. Inspired by Philippa Gregory's best selling novel, this film is about great families jockeying for position and using their daughters as pawns in a deadly game. Set during one of the most notorious periods in British r

Amazon.com
King Henry VIII and his passions are so gripping, viewers still can't get enough of them nearly five centuries later. Consider the riveting British drama The Other Boleyn Girl, witty, tragic, and as full of real emotions as, well, Jane Austen's novels. The BBC film, based on the novel by Philippa Gregory (and remade into a much glossier Hollywood version in 2008), allows the viewer to sympathize with the plight of women in 16th-century England, while being slightly revolted by the whole sticky mess.

Imagine two sisters whose father and entire family encourage them to debase themselves to curry favor with the handsome young King Henry (Jared Harris, Ocean's Twelve, To the Ends of the Earth). Mary Boleyn, played with winsome gravity by Natascha McElhone (Californication), is the first sister to catch the eye of the king, grown weary of his wife, Queen Katherine (Yolanda Vazquez, Notting Hill). "Use your wiles!" insists Mary's father, Sir Thomas Boleyn (noted British theater actor Jack Shepherd), as the appalled, newly married young woman tries to resist. Mary ultimately carries on an affair with the king and bears him an illegitimate son--but sister Anne sees her own opening as the king becomes restless again.

The film takes a decidedly modern approach to this period drama, by having the sisters occasionally speak directly to the camera, confessing their deepest desires (since clearly their own family couldn't care less). The men around them are desperate to advance their standing in the court and don't hesitate to push the young sisters into moral harm's way to get what they want. Things take a dangerous turn when Anne, played by the revelatory Jodhi May (Defiance), musters up ambition of her own to be not only a royal plaything but queen herself. The lack of a male heir, however, and Anne's own pride begin to spell her downfall, as her family distances themselves ("don't let that girl sink us all alongside her!" her horrified, and somewhat horrifying, father declares). It's the film's great achievement that though we know (most of) the end of the tale, we remain riveted to the very end. --A.T. Hurley

Customer Reviews

The king's women
Hollywood is releasing a new adaptation of Phillipa Gregory's "The Other Boleyn Girl," so unsurprisingly the older BBC adaptation is also (finally) seeing the light of American day.

And it's a pleasant, intimate little look at the difficult world of women in Tudor England. It's hampered by what is obviously a very low budget, but Jodhi May and Jared Harris turn in performances that knock it a few notches higher. Seriously, they're both amazing.

While serving Queen Katherine, Mary Boleyn (Natascha McElhone) catches the eye of King Henry VIII (Jared Harris), and soon her scheming, power-hungry family has shoved her into his bed. Initially she's horrified and ashamed, but soon finds that she's starting to fall in love with the charming king.

Meanwhile, Mary catches her sister Anne (Jodhi May) in bed with an engaged courtier, and the disgraced girl is sent away. When Anne returns, Mary is pregnant, and the Boleyn family is afraid of losing Henry's favor. But when he meets Anne, Henry immediately drops Mary, and becomes enraptured by the ambitious, frank young girl.

But Anne's one mistake -- and exile -- have hardened her, and she's determined not to be the "king's whore" like her sister, but his wife. Amid a storm of angry protest, Henry divorces his wife and marries Anne. But when she gives birth to another daughter, her position begins to slip...

"The Other Boleyn Girl" is not an epic movie -- it's more of a Tudor chick-flick. The big issues (women's reduced rights, splitting from the Catholic Church, poor Katherine of Aragon) are pushed to the background, in favor of a more intimate look at two young women's lives.

The direction is something of a hit-and-miss -- there are some lovely moments, like Mary's moment in the church when she realizes who she's in love with, or Anne's tantrum in front of the court. And Philippa Lowthorpe really gets across what a woman's life would have been like in the Tudor court, as well as the controversial idea that Anne really WAS guilty of incest. Unlikely, but interesting in fiction.

But the sets and costumes look a bit low-budget for the sumptuous Tudor era -- this is glaringly obvious in Katherine's chambers, which look like they were assembled hastily on a soundstage. And for some reason, the characters keep talking to the camera as if they're in a reality show.

What pulls this above "average"? That would be the acting. McElhone gives a graceful, understated performance, but May is the real powerhouse here -- her Anne fills the screen as a vibrant, passionate young woman who is burned by her family's ambition. And Harris is simply amazing as the young Henry -- not a bloated, diseased wreck, but a charming and athletic young monarch.

"The Other Boleyn Girl" is a rather mediocre TV movie that is given a massive boost by a trio of talented actors, particularly Jodhi May. Just don't expect too much historical detail.

Different
The first time I saw this movie I hated it. I had been expecting a serious costume drama that followed the book precisely. This is not that, so anyone expecting it should be warned.

I don't know why, but I found myself watching it again (long after the first occasion) and I liked it much better.

Yes, the costumes and sets are terrible. There was clearly a pitiful production budget for this. Where the movie redeems itself is in the performances. Jodhi May is excellent. Her transition from lovestruck girl to scheming woman is very well done. The other performances are all solid (although Jared Harris comes off a little mild as King Henry). I also liked the music. It's not epic, but very moody, melancholy, and elegant.

Some of the dialogue is ad libbed and the director uses a confessional camera technique (a la reality tv) to allow the characters to say what's on their minds directly to the audience. It's jarring, unexpected, probably my least favorite choice for narrative. But at the same time, it held my attention.

Overall, it's an odd little movie. But anyone who is curious should give it a try. (I think that after seeing the new version opening this week, I may find myself wishing they'd combined the production values of 2008 with the cast from 2003.)

Compared to the American version
I feel that this movie, compared to the American version, follows the book a little bit more closely. When I saw the American version, I was appalled at how the movie did not follow the book in any manner. They made it seem like the whole part of history (several years worth) happen in 3 months. I will admit that the book is excellent, so it is hard for any movie adaptation to match up to that caliber. At least this movie tries.