Movie Review: The Other Boleyn Girl

DVD Cover, link to IMDB Page

I watched The Other Boleyn Girl, a film adaptation of Philipa Gregory’s novel that I finished and reviewed not too long ago. I was interested to see how this would go. Growing up my parents would often make me read the book before taking me to see a movie, so I have come to appreciate the difficulties in taking a story from print to film. It can be difficult, but not impossible.

First, I’ll state the obvious: the movie is incredibly simple compared to the book. This is one of the problems of transitioning mediums. Books allow a writer to give exposition far greater than a movie allows. The movie acknowledges this by making big changes to the relationships between the characters, particularly the three principals: King Henry and the Boleyn sisters. Simply put, the movie over-simplifies the events and provides only the main points, and provides no details or background.

Note: I am going to discuss the differences between the book and the movie. Historical notes and changes can be checked on the IMDB page (click the movie poster above).

The Family Plotters

The first big change of the story is that of the family itself. The Boleyn family of the movie is not a family of schemers and plotters. Mary and Anne have a rivalry, but it is sisterly to start with. It is only when their Uncle arrives to include them in his plotting that their interactions with Henry begin.

Everyone is different. The mother is more affectionate, showing concern for both her daughters. The father is less assertive, more deferential to his brother-in-law. Mary becomes more innocent, though not completely blameless. Anne is the only character of the family I thought was diminished. Anne of the book is calculating and cunning. In the movie, she’s shrewd, but it’s never explained how, so she just comes across as extremely manipulative.

I did notice an obvious goof of the movie. The movie starts with Mary Boleyn’s marriage to William Carey. William is present for the Uncle’s decision to put Mary in Henry’s view, and a few subsequent scenes. He is obviously unhappy with the plot but goes along with it. And then he disappears. The movie never mentions that he dies of sickness. William Carey just ceases to be.

The Boleyn Siblings

The movie makes great changes to the relationships of the three Boleyn siblings. In short, their relationships become extremely shallow. The brother, George, is all but removed from the story, which makes sense as there’s not a lot of time to spend on his plot.

While Mary is still a co-conspirator, her increased innocence means she appears much more the victim of circumstance. Removed are her manipulations of Henry on behalf of Anne, and the scenes where she supports Anne when Anne is exhausted or needs advice are largely absent. Her character growth and rebellion against Anne – and therefor her survival of the fall of her family – is completely gone.

Anne’s maliciousness is missing scenes where she delights in torturing Mary, such as taking Mary and Henry’s son away from her, or refusing to reward Mary as she does the rest of the family. Indeed, for much of the second half of the movie, she ignores Mary to focus on Henry. Another sacrifice of switching mediums.

I found this most disappointing. Most of the book is about their relationship, their mutual support and rivalry. Without all the extra scenes of their bickering and scheming, their depth is gone. And without the depth, all the events of the movie seem sudden.

King Henry VIII

Henry VIII is a fairly one-dimensional character in both movie and book. He is a King of England who needs a male heir to secure his throne. If his queen cannot give him one, he will find a way. That’s all he needs to be, for either story.

Henry’s relationship with both sisters is also shallower than the book’s. He never develops much of a relationship with Mary, and they have one child together, not two. His turn to Anne is sudden, a result of her manipulations and not the family’s.

Henry’s movement away from the church and Katherine of Aragon is overly simplified, which isn’t a surprise. One of the things that I’ve learned from reading the series is how long of a process the separation was. To explain it in the film would take more time than they had, So, again, we see the entire process reduced to a few scenes. Henry wants a son. Anne wants to be queen. Katherine is in the way. Schism.

While the oversimplification of Henry and his quest isn’t a surprise, neither is it a strike. Henry’s part in this story is always simple. He’s the prize for both sisters, with the power to make – and break – their lives.

Conclusion

The book is better than the movie. Not exactly a risky stance to take, I know. But it’s important to understand how switching mediums change the basics of the characters.

Mary is no longer a naive character who grows into an independent woman, she is a victim of her circumstances. Anne is no longer a cunning strategist in a game of court politics, she is a manipulative opportunist. The events of their lives, devoid of any depth, become a sequence of rapid actions, observed without understanding anything but the immediate, personal consequences.

Was it a terrible transition of book to screen? No. There are definitely worse ones. And it did follow the basic themes of the book, while ignoring the nuances that a novel allows. That’s about all you can hope for when taking a book to screen. All in all, not a bad movie, but not one I feel the need to see again.

March Update

February was a busy month. Not only did I spend time concentrating on getting over some of the issues with various writing projects, but I knocked several movies off my list. I also got into podcasts at work, listening to them while I process some of the more mundane responsibilities.

Writing

My main focus was Book 3, wargaming out the end campaign to better understand how fast the units would be moving and reacting to events. I wrote through about 30,000 words, replacing previous scenes and building a much stronger campaign than the first run through. This leads me into the last acts of the book and gets me closer to a draft.

When I haven’t been working on Book 3, I’ve been spending some time on the sci-fi novel. I had to correct a few errors, re-writing scenes to account for mistakes I had made. I’ve also had to face the fact that the rough-draft’s final acts were not very exciting, so I’ve been planning out a new sequence of events. I’m working through those scene and closing in on a rough draft of that book as well.

Movies and TV

Knocked many things off my watch list last month.

I finished Star Trek: Discovery Season 4. I thought it was fantastic. A lot of people find problems with Discovery, and I understand why, but I really like their stories and their story-telling. Season 4 was the first season that I thought did not fall apart in the last two episodes.

Then I watched The Other Boleyn Girl, a film version of one of the books I’ve read. I was not too impressed. I know everything that got cut out, so the movie just feels like a rushed collection of events. I’m writing a more detailed blog post which should be up soon.

I also knocked out Top Gun: Maverick. It was an exciting movie, which I expected. What I did not expect was how strong the story was. I don’t know that I would say it is Best Picture material, but it was really good.

Books

Slowly making my way through the Education in Violence: The Life of George H Thomas by Francis F. McKinney. It’s a long, involved history book, with a lot of details about the general’s life and command during the civil war. It’s good, but it is involved. Takes a long time to get through one page.

Games

I finished both Last of Us and Fort Triumph. Fort Triumph was a fun game, with a decent and fun story. Last of Us though, holy crap was that an intense game. I had to give myself a few days between sessions. Still, I think it was one of the best games I’ve ever played. Up there with Horizon Zero Dawn. I started Last of Us Part II, which continues to be just as intense as the first game.

For my next computer game, I was going to start Mechanicus, a Warhamemr 40K game I’ve heard good things about, but it turns out there’s a problem with the game: the text is so small I can’t read it and I have no idea what’s going on. So instead I’m working through Napolean: Total War, to satiate my need for a strategic game of conquest.

Not much new to report in terms of RPG’s. My characters are all still alive and continuing with their stories. I’m doing a bit of work on some campaign ideas, but just broad strokes. I don’t think I’ll be running anything for a while.

What’s Next

I’ve got Minicon coming up Easter Weekend. By the end of the month I’m hoping to have another convention and a Books and Beer even lined up for summer. But those are yet to come.