The Other Boleyn Girl
Short description
Set in sixteenth-century England, this historical drama follows the Boleyn sisters, Anne and Mary, whose ambitious father and uncle push them toward the court of King Henry VIII in the hope of advancing the family's standing. Mary, the younger sister, attracts the king's attention first, but Anne's intelligence and determination soon shift the balance between them. What begins as a shared family project turns into rivalry, with the throne, the king's favour and the sisters' bond all at stake.
Natalie Portman plays Anne and Scarlett Johansson plays Mary, with Eric Bana as Henry Tudor. Jim Sturgess, Mark Rylance and Kristin Scott Thomas appear among a credited cast of 30. Justin Chadwick directed from a screenplay by Peter Morgan and T. Rafael Cimino; it was the first of the four features Chadwick has directed, ahead of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Tulip Fever and Brothers Under Fire. Produced by Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media and Scott Rudin Productions, it cost about 35 million dollars and took roughly 78 million worldwide, a modest return.
On IMDb it holds 6.7 out of 10 from around 126,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.7 out of 10 from over 2,200 votes. A critics' rating of 5.5 out of 10 from 146 reviews places professional notices below the audience scores.
What's left behind the scenes
- Filming began in October 2006.
- A number of leading literary and television critics in Britain spoke out against the adaptation of "The Other Boleyn Girl" due to the casting of American actresses (Johansson, Portman) in the leading roles.
- As is well known, the three-year marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn ended tragically. Henry accused his wife of adultery and ordered her execution. However, his sister's death gave Mary no chances, as the monarch was already captivated by the young Jane Seymour. The daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn went down in history as Elizabeth I and became one of the most revered monarchs of Great Britain.
- Henry VIII was married six times – Anne Boleyn was his second wife.
- In August 2007, several days of reshoots with the main actors of the film took place in England; in particular, the scene of Anne Boleyn and the king’s wedding was reshot. The reshoots, according to rumors, were a forced move, as the studio considered the first version of the film too short.
- Despite a more or less accurate depiction of events, the film contains a number of historical inaccuracies: Henry VIII, judging by portraits, bore very little resemblance to Eric Bana; Anne Boleyn spent significantly more time at court before her marriage than shown in the film; more than four years passed between Henry's first attempt to divorce Catherine of Aragon and the actual divorce; Anne Boleyn was accused of sexual relations not only with her own brother, but also with two of her friends; unlike the events depicted in the film, there was likely no real basis for the accusations at all; Anne Boleyn’s sister either never raised Elizabeth at all, or raised her for a very short period of time – Elizabeth later lived at court with her father and stepmother.
- The film is based on Philippa Gregory's novel "The Other Boleyn Girl" (2001), which in turn is based on real historical events.
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