The Other Boleyn Girl
Directed by Justin Chadwick
Starring Natalie Portman, Eric Bana, Scarlett Johansson
Rated PG-13
Release date: Feb. 29, 2008

This 16th-century tale, based on Philippa Gregory’s 2002 best-seller, introduces audiences to the lesser-known Boleyn sister Mary, who’s joyfully celebrating her marriage to William Carey and planning a quiet life in the country. Unfortunately, her scheming family has other plans.

In juxtaposition to the young Mary’s seemingly carefree existence, at court Queen Catherine of Aragon bears a stillborn child, failing again to produce a male heir for her husband Henry VIII, King of England. Realizing the potential to elevate their social status, Mary’s father Sir Thomas Boleyn and uncle, the Duke of Norfolk, decide to offer up Mary’s sister Anne to be the King’s mistress. But after an incident at the Boleyn estate, Mary catches the eye of the King. Mary’s family pushes her to be the King’s mistress instead of Anne and encourages Mary to try and give the King a son. When Anne and Mary are brought to the Tudor court to serve as the Queen’s ladies-in-waiting, a bitter rivalry between the sisters ensues.

England’s Henry XIII is mainly known as the rotund, gluttonous, six-times married King he became later in life, but during his early reign, Henry was a fit, attractive man, which is how he’s betrayed by Eric Bana in The Other Boleyn Girl. Bana doesn’t do much here besides bed the ladies and look disappointed at his lack of male successor, but this story is not about the famous King. Instead, it revolves around Mary Boleyn (Scarlett Johansson), her infamous sister Anne Boleyn (Natalie Portman), and how they were used by their family as political and social pawns. While Mary was an innocent in the events who actually fell in love with the King and bore him an illegitimate son, Anne took on her family’s cutthroat methods, taking down anyone who got in the way of her being with the King.

Anne did manage to recapture the King’s attention, but was not satisfied with being merely the his mistress — she wanted to be his Queen. The fact that the King was already married didn’t stop Anne from attaining her goal, one which led not only to the eventual dividing of a kingdom and the King’s breaking with the Church in Rome, but to her own downfall as well.

Peter Morgan‘s script takes many liberties with Gregory’s novel and truncates many of the well-documented historical events, giving the appearance that Mary’s time as the King’s mistress and Anne’s rise and fall were only a few years. The film also makes Henry appear much more fickle than he actually was (if that’s possible!). Morgan, whose dialogue-heavy script for another royal flick The Queen was nominated for a best original screenplay Oscar, shows off his ability to give the actors at least one Oscar-winning monologue. One of the best scenes is Queen Catherine’s (Ana Torrent) confrontation with Anne. The Queen is on her way to trial, where the validity of her marriage to Henry is being contested. With her head held high, she says “I am Catherine, Queen of England …” and goes on to say that she will never willingly concede her position or that of her daughter Mary’s right to succeed England’s throne.

Soon after, in a chilling scene, Anne is crowned Queen.

Portman and Johansson do an adequate job as the rivaling sisters, though Johansson’s performance is more low-key. Portman is believable as the domineering Anne, who seduces the powerful King and claws her way to the top of a kingdom. Across The Universe‘s Jim Sturgess plays Anne and Mary’s brother George Boleyn, who sacrifices his own happiness for the greater good of the family and is asked to go beyond the call of duty (wait till you get to that scene).

While it’s easy enough to classify this seductive period piece as a bodice-ripper, there’s no actual bodice ripping going on in this PG-13 offering. All the sex is implied, except for one fully clothed and hardly romantic incident. But we are treated to two full birth scenes, and though it was touching to see Anne giving birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I, I don’t think that birthing scenes should be more graphic than sex romps. That goes double for when a story seeks to show how sex is used to manipulate a powerful kingdom, and triple when the ladies getting it on are two of today’s hottest young actresses and the man they’re getting it on with is umm… Eric Bana! But even with all their clothes kept on (and there’s lots of clothes there), these three actors do manage to heat up the screen.

Aside from the lack of steamy sex (because 13-year-olds are watching) and the aforementioned poor pacing of events (which attempts to keep those attention-deficit 13-year-olds awake and interested), there’s one aspect of the film that truly interrupted my enjoyment of it: director Justin Chadwick‘s overwhelming use of voyeuristic camera angles. Many of the indoor scenes are hindered not only by poor lighting, by the ironwork grating that’s part of the castle’s architecture and cover much of the screen. These types of shots are meant to be used sparingly and provide a kind of peak into the lives of these characters. Unfortunately, since so many scenes are shot this way, it becomes annoying after the first few times, especially when there doesn’t seem to be any real reason for them. In the hands of a more experienced director, with a script not geared towards a younger crowd, The Other Boleyn Girl could have been another Elizabeth.