‘Boleyn’ girls: What pretty clothes you have

By Allison Brophy Champion

Published: May 15, 2008

Excuse my French, but England was f-ed up back in the day, especially for women.

That’s how I felt after watching “The Other Boleyn Girl” at the discount theater in Lynchburg Saturday night. I felt thankful to be an American woman living in the 21st century.

We don’t know how good we have it.

The period film, set in the 16th century, also produced envy and awe on account of the delicious dresses, courtesy Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell, who earned Academy Awards in 1999 for “Shakespeare in Love” and in 2005 for “The Aviator.”

Those Boleyn girls sure could dress. Especially eye-catching is the pearl necklace with a ‘B’ pendant worn by Anne (Natalie Portman). This decoration, in fact, is based on real history: a famous portrait painted of her by an unknown artist in the 16th century has her wearing it.

The crazy boxed headdresses, fashionable among royalty of the time, are also quite dazzling — a perfect frame to any face (think the Queen of Hearts).
And the dresses, oh the dresses, were so fabulous and frilly I wanted to weep.

But no, I’ll save my crying for Anne and her sister Mary (Scarlett Johansson), lovely, smart girls pawned off by their father Sir Thomas (Mark Rylance) and uncle the Duke of Norfolk (David Morrissey) as sexual objects to men of “the court,” namely a moody King Henry VIII (Eric Bana).

Based on the novel by Phillippa Gregory, “The Other Boleyn Girl” is loosely factual as not all is known about the young queen who ruled for three years before being beheaded.

But you’ll get the idea.

A BBC Films production released in February and coming to DVD next month, “Boleyn” is all lies and deception — a tale of women as breeders first, lovers second, daughters last.
It manages to hold your attention though and is definitely worth a watch on the home theater if only for the outrage it will evoke among the gentler sex.

Bana stands out as the brooding, maniacal king who gets whatever he wants, including both Boleyn sisters. It’s a twisted tale of rape and murder, greed and power with family drama that makes my clan seem tame.

The movie opens and the king is mad because his wife Katherine of Aragon (Ana Torrent) just miscarried. Word around town is that she’s barren.

The king’s affections wane.

The wicked Sir Thomas sees an opportunity to hoar out his nieces to the king, thus gaining favor with his majesty, and hopefully financial gain.
The girls’ father convinces precocious Anne of “the opportunity to succeed” by seducing the king, presenting it to her as a challenge. She catches the king’s eye, but soon enough falls out of favor with him due to his highly unstable personality and her wayward ways.
Anne is sent away to France.

Mary, then, is sent to “nurse” the king’s ego even though she’s already married. She doesn’t protest — she has no choice — when he beds her.

Mary soon grows pregnant with his son, enraging Anne, who concocts an evil plan to banish her sister back to the country.

The famous Boleyn sister then embarks on a multi-pronged effort to seduce the king, never giving “it” up until he divorces his wife, shuns the Catholic Church and marries her.

By the time all that happens, one gets the feeling Anne has taken her seductions too far. Completely obsessed, the king “takes” her without an ounce of pleasure, impregnating Anne with a daughter.

We all know how this story ends — at the end of a sword — but it’s no more bearable when she loses her head. So does Anne’s brother George (Jim Sturgess), guilty by association.

Mary, according to the movie, escapes with her head, reuniting with her husband to raise the king’s son, Anne’s daughter and their own child in the country.

Anne’s daughter with the king becomes Queen Elizabeth I, ruler of England from 1558 to 1603.

A tale of betrayal, sisterly love and a male-dominated society, “The Other Boleyn Girl” ends as it should — with one of the most beloved monarchs, a female, ruling England.
She never married.

Allison Brophy Champion can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 101 or