11 thoughts on “Badass Babes: Anne Boleyn

  1. I hope this is the first in a TUDOR SERIES in preparation for the start of “Wolf Hall” on PBS this Sunday! I’m super-excited to see the newest take on Henry and Anne… and traditionally overshadowed figures Wolsey and Cromwell.

  2. I love your summary of every Henry VIII movie ever. Wolf Hall is a bit guilty of this as well, but it’s a bit better. I wish someone would do one that starts with Henry’s courtship and marriage to Katherine of Aragon.

    1. I think the only film that really does a good job of going into the (100% fierce) love that Henry had for Catherine of Aragon is the first episode of the BBC Six Wives of Henry VIII. They at least tried to show how Catherine was essentially held hostage by Henry VII after Prince Arthur died, kept in penury and, at times, at the brink of starvation while he used her as leverage to get his hands on the remainder of the Spanish dowry that Isabella & Ferdinand were loathe to part with. And how Prince Henry looks up to Catherine as an example of the ideal woman, full of virtue, beauty, and grace while being subjected to ridiculous levels of mistreatment at the English court, so that when he comes of age he’s primed and ready to ride in as the chivalric romantic he is and rescue her, elevating her to be his perfect queen.

      As far as I can recall, no other film has ever bothered to do that.

      1. Very true. Bad ’70s make-up aside, SWoHVIII feels the most accurate to me–including physical casting and plots/dialog–and the performances are very good indeed. There’s a movie out there called something like “Henry VIII and His Six Wives,” with Michell–and Charlotte Rampling as Anne! I would love to see this, but the clips on YouTube look quite faded, and who knows what shape the film itself might be in.

        I took a certain guilty pleasure in watching “The Tudors” on trans-Atlantic flights. God, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is a twit. So sullen and boring; he’d be better grunged up and cast as Henry VII. And I hated the way Dormer was required to be sexy in a very non-16th-century style, but her final scenes were well played. I gather she wasn’t very happy with the series, either:

        https://thecreationofanneboleyn.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/natalie-and-anne/

  3. I can’t help it, I’m just so totally over Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Done to death already. I want more Wars of the Roses!

  4. There’s some interesting stuff about The Tudors and Natalie Dormer’s casting in Susan Bordo’s The Creation of Anne Boleyn. (as well as Anne’s depiction in other films; fair warning: a lot of hate for The Other Boleyn Girl) For instance, Natalie dyed her hair dark when she auditioned and was reportedly horrified when they wanted to bleach her back. She managed to get the showrunner to agree to leave her darker, among a couple other things.

  5. Really interesting article; there’s some obscure stuff in here and that’s always fun to read about! Couldn’t help but notice, though – the picture you have for 2001’s “The Six Wives of Henry VIII” is actually Sophie Hunter from the 2009 documentary “Henry VIII: The Mind of a Tyrant”. ^^;

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