The Other Boleyn Girl

This was an enjoyable film that had substance but did not measure up to the, fine TV series, The Tudors.

Don't know about the historical accuracy, but this is a great drama if you like that genre.

"The Other Boleyn Girl" is an entertaining historical drama that reminds many of us that the rakish, irresponsible Henry VII actually knew two Boleyn women - the known one - Anne, and the unknown one, Mary.

The film tells a story how both sisters end up romancing the king, and how both are used by their father and the Duke of Norfolk to assure their family's status and fortune. Like the later film, "The Duchess," the film paints an extremely bleak portrait of a woman's life and choices - something that changed very recently in history.

Eric Bana brings life and vitality to Henry, depicting a time before the king had become corpulent and lazy. Natalie Portman is duplicitous and still manages to conjure some sympathy as Anne, and Scarlett Johansson is noble and admirable as Mary.

People will aruge over the factual nature of the film, but history should be learned from history research, not from motion pictures. This is a great story and one that can be enjoyed by many.

Although the characters are real and the story based on true events, the author takes a good deal of liberty with the plot - this is a "what might have happened" vision of history and as such cannot be taken too seriously.

That said, it is an interesting depiction of 16th century England at the court of King Henry VIII, when position and power meant everything, it was very much a man's world and women were reduced to mere pawns to serve their advancement (either as wives or mistresses) and assure their descendance. All in all, I found the film entertaining, more so than the television serie, where the actors were less charismatic and somewhat unconvincing, especially Anne.

However, my favorite film on the subject remains "Anne of the thousand days", which is closer to the real story and far more believable as a whole, and Genevieve Bujold and Richard Burton deliver dynamite performances.

Historically and Entertaining!
A great treat after a long study--Not being one who is especially fond of history...before my study of Henry VIII for a Church History class, I knew very little of the Boleyns. Since I am a visual learner, I looked for a movie to see if I had a grip on the information. The librarian suggested this movie/book ---This was great for me; reference material that I had read - it even cleared up, or at least prompted me to do a bit more research on several areas. A great way to be gain historical knowledge and be entertained at the same time...Enjoy :)!