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| The Other Boleyn Girl [2003] | ![The Other Boleyn Girl [2003]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51kMUPmFCmL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: Phillipa Lowthorpe
Actors: Yolanda Vasquez, Jared Harris, Natascha Mcelhone, Steven Mackintosh, Jodhi May
Studio: 2 Entertain Video
Category: DVD
List Price: £4.99
Buy New: £3.88
You Save: £1.11 (22%)
New (5) from £3.83
Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 455
Format: Pal
Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Running Time: 90 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5051561026812
ASIN: B0012X6RG0
Theatrical Release Date: 2003
Release Date: October 6, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 bit of a waste October 27, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
The success of "The other Boleyn girl," first as a book, and then as a film, is both remarkable and a testimony to our continuing fascination with the Tudor period. Even though I have a degree in history, I never minded the inaccuracies and exaggerations of the book since it worked well for what it was; an intimate and entertaining portrayle of a competitive relationship between sisters, with some sexy bits thrown in for luck. I thought it was too obviously sensationalist (the phrase "bodice-ripper" comes to mind) to be mistaken as a serious historical study, though the success of "The Da Vinci Code" shows you should never underestimate the gulibility of many people on this score. I haven't yet seen the American film, largely because I fear the subtleties of the book will be lost in the big-budget big-screen version. I was excited, however, at the prospect of the television version, since the BBC has such a great record with period dramas. But I have to say that on too many levels it just didn't work for me.
Stylistically, I felt the washed-out, fly-on-the-wall style of filming was completely at odds with the book. Presumably the intention was to rid the piece of the fluffy, schmaltzy connotaions of the period drama, and make the story seem fresh and new. But anyone who's read the book knows it's basically chic-lit with a thesaurus and better costumes. The juxtaposition of the excessively modern filming style with the period content was a bold move, but ultimately made the whole feel clumsy and fake. The tenderness and intimacy of the book, the main reasons for it's success, are drowned by the jittery, constantly-moving camera work. A more conservative style would have harmonised better with the content, which is obviously more "chamber-piece" than gritty realism.
I also felt that some poor choices were made when deciding what to include from the book and what to alter or excise. While I applaud the decision to get rid of the references to witchcraft, why then so blatantly condone the incest charge? Even Anne's contemporary enemies found this difficult to prove, and historians pretty much unanimously agree it was a desperate attempt to discredit and villanise her. I suppose how you feel about the responsibility of entertainment to be factually accurate will dictate how you respond to this, but for me it was just too much of a stretch to be credible. Even as entertainment it didn't really work; all the effort to establish Anne and her family as real, relatable and sypathetic caracters was spoiled by the sensationalist nature of this issue.
There are some redeeming factors, however. Some of the performances were wonderful; I'm thinking of John Woodvine as uncle Howard and Steven Mackintosh as George Boleyn in particular. Natasha McElhone also performs beautifully, though for me she is too elegant and poised in appearence for the giggly, naive caracter of Mary Boleyn. And while I feel the filming style failed to work in this example, it was still arresting and striking to watch. I would love to see a documentary approached in such a way, or at least something based more firmly in factual evidence, with a wider perspective than the intensely emotional book.
On the whole I felt this was a wasted opportunity. The story behind "The other Boleyn girl" has a lot of milage left in it, and the pace and arrangement of the book lends itself much better to television than film. But I can't help but feel the story and the way it was depicted in this version were fundamentally mismatched. Lacking the emotion and sensuality of the book, but also the satisfaction of actual accuracy, I can't quite grasp what the point of the piece was; ultimately, it feels irrelevant and, more importantly, unenjoyable.
Tedious October 27, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I found this production mean and claustrophobic. The cast is great and the acting is great but i could not take it seriously. I understand the Directors intentions ( i Claudius anyone?) but it really doesn't work. The grainy texture of the film is pointless and pretentious and is probably to create distance from the viewer in order to obscure the fact that Henry's court seems only to have 7 or 8 people in it. The court lacks the bustle and business of how the court would have been.
I didn't make it to the end of this, i found it tiresome, pretentious and, well, cheap.
 Absolute dross! October 26, 2008
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
As the title says, I don't even want to waste my time writing anything further.
 Inspiring and compelling October 12, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
A powerful and truly inspiring adaptation of The Other Boleyn Girl. All the performances are stunning. The rough camera work gives it an immediacy and power which is utterly compelling. It's low budget naturalism is a virtue. It doesn't distract with flash costumes and chocolate box locations. Instead it draws you in to it's world and makes you totally involved with the characters and their lives. Gripping from beginning to end.
Absolute Rubbish! October 10, 2008
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
I'm seriously shocked how bad this is after all these positive reviews. It's filmed in a kind of trendy "fly on the wall" documentary style with the actors doing Big Brother diary room pieces to camera. It looks like it's been filmed by a 12 year old on a camcorder with a pair of tights over the lens.
The actress playing Mary is pushing 40 (when Mary would have been roughly 20 when she met the King) she has all the emotional range of a door knob and gives the flattest performance I think I've ever seen. Her brother George is playing as a chirpy cockney type "or rite Anne leave it out thatz the King yous takining to", he's so bad I was thinking "can't wait till you get the axe". The actress playing Ann isn't that bad (amongst a sea of rubbish not that hard to shine) but the story line is so rushed through there's no sense of her character or build up to her change in thinking about the Henry, half her story is missing so there's no feud with Wolsey, one minute she's a naive school girl in love with Henry Percy, seconds later she decided to catch the Kings eye (in a completely different story line to the book & real life) and then two seconds later she's married the King, with barely a mention of Catherine or the 7 years it took for Henry to rid himself of her.
I couldn't watch till the end, turned it off as it's quite frankly one of the worst pieces of television I've ever seen and a massive insult to the book.
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