MonsterPerfect Good idea lost in the noise

Solidrariol Am I Missing Something?

Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

davidorcutt31 I'm generally a fan of Tudor history and have seen most of what's out there from The Tudors to the White Queen. This was by far one of the absolute best because it dispensed with the grand set designs and overly sweeping costumes which, in others version, completely disguises the fact that the Tudor court was an auction of women. Whether daughter, sister, niece, women were the commodity to be traded for lands, property, and most important of all, titles. Lesser lords traded their women to greater lords in a way to scramble to the top of power. When a queen became pregnant, all the lords began bringing their newest female relatives to court to try to snag him. Same when a queen delivered a girl. They all knew - and they all played - and the women paid.

gelman@attglobal.net This is a 2003 TV version of Phillipa Gregory's novel, not the star- studded 2008 movie, but it is interesting nonetheless. Mary (Natasha McElhone) is elder sister to Anne (Jodhi May) and, under pressure from her family, unwillingly precedes Anne as mistress to King Henry VIII (Jared Harris). The King loses interest in Mary when she becomes pregnant with Henry's only son and he then presses his affections on Anne. Anne's strategy is to sustain Henry's eagerness by declining to have sex with him but, when she fears he may turn elsewhere, she gives in and thus provides one element of the pretext for her ultimate beheading.Although Anne produces a daughter, afterward Queen Elizabeth I, Henry must have a son to secure the succession. He makes clear his displeasure with Anne for failing to give him one, beginning this flirtation with Jane Seymour. Ultimately, feeling she has no choice in the matter, Anne asks her brother to lie with her, which he does reluctantly. Eventually, her brother and other courtiers are accused of adultery with the Queen and executed in advance of her execution. Mary at last finds happiness with a common soldier and farmer who had befriended her while at court, the only satisfactory and satisfied human being in the entire story. Natasha McElhone bears an uncanny resemblance to the young Emma Thompson. Jodhi May, on the other hand, is quite a plain Anne Boleyn, though her cleavage has been much enhanced. Apparently, there is some, though not conclusive, evidence, to support Ms. Gregory's version of history. And BBC has done justice to the convoluted tale with the able intercession of Phillipa Lowthorpe, the director. One can't help wondering why, with bastardy not so unusual, Henry VIII should not have taken some interest in his only son, conferring on him some ranking and estate as was frequently done in other cases. Perhaps he really was the self-centered SOB that has been handed down to us through history.

MsKris I'm still amazed that they were able to take such fascinating subject matter and turn out such a dull, miscast and disjointed feature. Switching the ages of the two main female characters didn't help, either. On the plus side, it was enjoyable to see Jared Harris apparently channeling his late father for his role of Henry VIII.Skip the movie, read the book.

movielamour If this sets the new direction for period dramas, then I'm all for it! Gone are the stuffy mannerisms and cookie-cutter direction. In comes a new era of BBC costume drama, even with the oh, so familiar face of Jodhi May. MY how we've never seen her in just this way before! Heaving bosoms and lustful swaggers and I was HOOKED in the first fifteen minutes! I SO HOPE it is released to DVD!!! The story of Anne Boleyn is known far and wide, but I don't think it's ever been told from the perspective of what it must have been like to be a young woman in those ruthless times. And Anne was ruthless, there's no doubt about it. However, the beauty of this production is that it sheds light on *why* she maneuvered herself the way she did. The mother of England's greatest queen, Elizabeth I, had to have a lot of chutzpah to not only gain the king's favor, but keep it - and his sexual desires - at bay for years before bagging him and the crown as her own. This adaptation really makes one wonder what the country would have been like had she only managed to bear a male heir, and hence, keep her head.BRAVO BBC!