 
The Other Boleyn Girl
a.k.a. “Deux soeurs pour un roi,” “L' Altra donna del re,” “Die Schwester der Königin,” “A Outra,” “I Alli eromeni tou vasilia,” “Boleyn kizi,” “Deux soeurs pour un roi,” “Um Rei Duas Irmãs,” “Králova prízen,” “Kuningattaren sisar,” “La Otra,” “Teine Boleyni tüdruk,” “Las hermanas Bolena” MPAA Rating:
 for mature thematic elements, sexual content and some violent imagesReviewed by: Jennifer Constantine Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
½Primary Audience:
Adults
Genre:
Drama, History, Romance
Length:
1 hr. 55 min.
Year of Release:
2008
USA Release:
February 29, 2008 (wide)
“The only thing that could come between these sisters… is a kingdom.” The History of the Tudors of England has fascinated historians (and regular people like this reviewer) for centuries. Henry and his six wives, as well as the struggle for the throne after his death is anything but humdrum, and so it seems rather a shame that “The Other Boleyn Girl” sees the need to take more than a little creative license with facts—changing something here, deleting another there, adding to spice up… If you go in knowing nothing of the real history behind the movie, you will come away with a somewhat distorted picture of what really happened. The actress playing Catherine of Aragon (Anna Torrent) is beautiful, but we know from portraits that by the time she had endured several miscarriages and Henry had started looking to a mistress to provide a male heir that Catherine was overweight and middle-aged. If we take the story literally, we come away thinking that Elizabeth-I who eventually succeeded Henry was the product of rape. Henry certainly had many faults; do we need to add rapist to the list, without any substantiating evidence? Then there is Mary Boleyn, whom very little is known about. We do know that she gave birth to a son named Henry, who historians agree was most probably Henry's. The entire story about a rivalry between her and sister Anne is, at best, speculation, as is the rumored affair Anne had with their brother George. On the spiritual side, other than the aforementioned rape and discussion concerning incest, there are many things that viewers may find offensive. One is the sex scenes. Although the only nudity is Henry (Eric Bana) shown barechested, most of the scenarios are not between husband and wife, but are adulterous. Marriage is taken very lightly. Selfish ambition is not shown in a positive light, but Mary seems at times to judge Anne for her betrayal, when in reality, Mary has done the same thing to Catherine. In another scene Mrs. Boleyn states that God has turned his back on the situation, which we know from scripture is not true:
Scarlett Johansson does a god job as Mary, but it is really Natalie Portman who shines in her final scenes as Anne Boleyn. I don't, however, recommend this movie, since the sex and violence are gratuitous and not even historically accurate in all cases. Violence: Moderate / Profanity: Minor / Sex/Nudity: Moderate See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.   Comments below:
Negative
Negative - Despite the fact that this is a film based on historical truth, it has no redeeming moral character to it. It does show that sin causes pain and death and to remain true and guiltless can win happiness, BUT it doesn't prove that well. Negative - This was an extremely offensive movie and I would not recommend it to anyone and DEFINATELY not children or teenagers. It contained such things as immorality, rape, infidelity, lying, cheating, deception. It had to be one of the worst movies I have ever seen. There was no speck of truth or decency within the entire movie. What struck me most about the father in the movie was, a father can destroy his family with his bad choices just as easy as he could bless his family with his good choices. Also this movie speaks the golden rule very loudly, what you do to others and how you treat them will come back to you. There is no value, no fuzzy feeling to walk away with. You feel mad and cheated by the contents of this dark movie. I do believe the only reason I was allowed to see this movie, was to warn you not to see it. Negative - I very closely agree with the official reviewer for this site about this movie. It reminded me of my feelings for Titanic (Leonardo DiCaprio). It seems to me that if you are going to do a film about a true story, you should stick to facts. What really happened is far better/more interesting than what the writer(s) came up with for this film and Titanic. Negative - I went to this movie on opening day. I thought it was about two sisters Ann and Mary. who were in love with the same king. The kings wife could no longer give him an heir. The dad and uncle of the two girls thought if Ann could seduce the king, they would have favor and social status with him. They arranged for the king to visit. While on a hunting party he hurt himself. Mary was told to take care of him. The king wanted Mary instead of Ann and her dad told her she was to go stay at the castle. While Mary is in bed waiting to deliver his child, Ann is told by her dad and uncle to seduce the king. She makes him fall in love with her, get rid of his wife and mary her. She has a daughter and at one point is so desperate to have a son, asks her brother to sleep with her so she can get pregnant. Neutral
Neutral - I am not a fan of the novel on which this film is based; in fact, I absolutely hate its one-sided perspective of Anne Boleyn as a ruthless manipulator, but I was surprised how much I enjoyed 'The Other Boleyn Girl' on film, due to some massive changes. If the movie had been true to Gregory's vision, it would have included homosexuality and incest; in that regard, I feel audiences got off rather lightly. The historian in me was appalled at the inaccuracies, as well as the fact that Henry's break from Rome (thus creating the Church of England, and the advancement of Protestantism) is only touched in a single line of dialogue, however, it is very easy to become lost in the emotional range of the story, and in that sense it is memorable. Neutral - There is a reason why this movie is so little on history and much on conjecture. It's based on a book which is pure soap opera and no real history. Hence the movie makers simply went with that and all the silly rumors and myths that have built up over the Tudors. Don't take this movie as fact! Neutral - This review is broken up into 3 parts. First, the FILMMAKING. Breathtaking costumes, sets, music, and acting. The characters were completely believable in their roles and the casting was superb. Every detail is in place, right down to the jewels on the headcoverings. Beautiful film! Positive
Positive - My husband and I went to see this movie the very first night it came out. I love English history so these types of movies fascinate us. I have to admit when I read the critics comments I was a little skeptical, but we pursued the film against all odds. When the film first began, it started off a little slow but to my surprise the film turned out to be really good. I was really surprised by all the negative reviews this film received. Yes from a christian point of view all of the lies, sex, betrayal and adultery are morally wrong. But you have to remember we are talking about King Henry. Maybe the writers did add a little more to the story to spice it up, but it made the film so much more enjoyable to watch. It's just like the Bible everyone has a different version but it all comes down to what is right. This film was so worth my time and money. If you pay attention to the story itself you see how Queen Elizabeth came to the throne (not the Queen now). The history is wonderful, how many of us knew about The Other Boylen Girl? Great movie would definitely recommend it. Comments from young people
Positive - This movie was *awesome* I saw it with my sisters and yeah it was like great. I would totally recommend it. The 'sex scenes' are very minor, not even full nudity, and their pretty brief. Other than the fact that Natalie Portman is slightly annoying, she played her part well as well as Scarlett. They both conveyed the right attitudes for the parts they were playing. I'm not sure how accurate it was with history, I'm not a history buff but even if it wasn't it was a great movie. It showed a great theme of forgiveness and how sin messes things up. And how lust can blind you, how jealousy can destroy relationships and how forgiveness and loyalty is worth it in the end. I would recommend this movie, there was nothing wrong with it at all. GO SEE IT! |
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