Tudor Historian Reacts to The Other Boleyn Girl
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- čas přidán 1. 07. 2023
- I'm Dr Estelle Paranque, Tudor historian as well as an expert on women history, and in today's History Police video, I'm reviewing and reacting to The Other Boleyn Girl...
My latest book, if you're interested in my work:
Estelle Paranque, Blood Fire and Gold
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Everyone who's been accused of something they didn't do understands the heart aching the horrible pain Anne must have felt. Something about the heartbreak and betrayal of this story just really hits me hard
If you are going to write a book or make a movie about real historical people I think you need to respect the history. Thank you, enjoyed this
I think at least a bare minimum, I agree! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Then make a documentary.
Amen! When I see PG’s name on a book I know that there will be a lot of sketchy stuff in the story.
And not make out your book is the actual history and that everything you have written is actually what happened
My favorite portrayals of Anne are Genevieve Bujod from Anne of the Thousand Days and Natalie Dormer from the Tudors
I really like the fact that you briefly touched upon the trauma the surving Boleyn family must have endured. I have often wondered what it must of been for them to have risen to such heights and have it come crashing down on them in such a devastating way. It had to be absolutely devastating.
Thank you!
I remember the first time I saw this film. There were many times that I said "no" out loud as the film progressed. Such bad history, but as has been said elsewhere, the casting was amazing.
Haha I screamed in the movie theatre saying “nooo it’s not true” 😂😂😂
The casting and acting was impeccable!
According to IMDB trivia, Sir Mark Rylance who played Thomas B was just as frustrated with the lack of historical accuracy lol
So glad I'm not the only one who cries over Anne, and shouts out "That's NOT accurate!" through almost every historical movie I watch. My family is always like 🤨🙄😑😂 ok mom...
Love your take on this movie!
thank you for being here!
I guess I'm somewhere in the middle.
I've been studying the Tudors for many years, so of course, when I see The Other Boleyn Girl, The Tudors etc- I can easily identify the historical inaccuracies. But I still enjoy them for what they are.
If I seek productions which are closest to the source material, I look to Elizabeth R with Glenda Jackson, The Six Wives of Henry VIII (the BBC drama from the 70s) or one of the David Starkey productions.
I’ve read all of David Starkey’s books. What I love is how he puts the blame squarely on Henry’s shoulders. That is where it belongs.
Not me bawling my eyes out when you were crying about Anne!! I have loved Anne since I was a child in the 70s and really reading everything about her became an obsession. My son did a project on the six wives and of course it was Anne who he fell in love with. My eldest daughter has the middle name of Anne - she has always been part of our lives. I love her.
Oh bless your heart! It means a lot.
Anne was really special wasn’t she? I’m so grateful you watched my video!
@@ElleHistory I love your channel !! And I want all of your books. You are a breath of fresh air 🎶
Thank you so much! It means a great deal to me!!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🥰
You're so emphathetic and respectful of the real people in history. We all love Anne we all feel for her. Mannnn
thank you...
This movie turns more cringe after watching this review🤣I thought the most ridiculous part is about Anne spending some time in France as exile and returning as a complete changed woman (not only very pathetic way to describe someone maturing up, but also the fact that true Anne's life before Henry was just spending time and having fun in courts of Europe, most of all France and meeting important figures of her day) I thought that was movie's worst scenario and I couldn't believe there's even more to laugh about🤣🤣🤣
I love your passion for this subject.
Thank you!
I liked your excellent review a thousand times better than the actual movie 😅
Please never apologize for showing emotions, your passion and empathy is what drew me to your work.
Just finished your brilliant Blood, Fire and Gold and can't wait for your next book 😊
Will you keep us posted when it's available for pre-order?
Aww thanks so much!!
And yes I will definitely keep you all posted about my next book 😊 (2024 for sure)!🙏🏻😊😍
Thank you for your perspectives and humor. Isn't it a shame that with all the richness of history, sometimes Hollywood can't resist a Madonna/Whore dichotomy?
I agree.. they could have done a way better movie!!
ANYTHING by P. Gregory has to be taken with a grain (or POUND) of salt, but this one is definitely the worst one out of all of her historical fiction. How emotional you are when you speak about Anne's trial is really moving... and so true.
Yes I think the script writers even made it worse in some ways….
Aww thanks. It’s such a very emotional topic.. thanks so much for watching and for your support! 🙏🏻😊
I just found out you have a CZcams channel and I am so excited! LOVE your passion and empathy! ❤️
Thank you SO MUCH!! It means a great deal!! 🙏🏻🥰
Oh my goodness Estelle, first of all sending hugs. The empathy you have for Anne is so lovely. The movie The Other Boleyn Girl, did her a complete disservice. She was a victim of Henry VIII just as much as any of his wives. Natalie Portman was fabulous as Anne though!
Natalie was a gorgeous Anne.. she was just given a bad script… 🙈
Thank you for your kind words and thank you for watching my content. It means a lot. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
@@ElleHistory Agree!! ❤
The Other Boleyn Girl book was how I first got really into Anne Boleyn and Tudor history even though I now know how historically inaccurate it was, especially in its depiction of Anne. I still read that book to death, literally, the book fell apart and I had to get a new one. I've long moved on from it though to others and now I have a small stack of similar books waiting to be read and am considering getting a history degree because of how much I love that time period. What struck me about the film when I first saw it years ago was how it unlike the book it was, it was as if they just bought the title to use. How historically accurate would you say the costumes were? I heard they had to make a lot of the costumes themselves because all of the costumes that normally would be rented for this kind of production were all being used to film the Tudors.
Thank you for watching and yes, the book is for me different.
Good question. I think they’ve been Hollywoodise if you see what I mean 🤣
Just finished it. First half is glacially paced soap opera, whilst the second half is a rushed whirlwind with choppy editing and a race to the finish line.
Needed bit more smooth transition in the middle. (Also did she really try to have sex with her brother to have a baby??)
Also, are you gonna review the recent Ch5 version of AB?? It took a lot more liberties than just outrageous race swapping lol
Mary Boleyn wasn’t even present at Anne’s execution, and she certainly did not take over Elizabeth’s care.
Anne had a bad temper and she disliked Katherine cause she was her rival but she also loved her family. Even when she felt that Mary Boleyn had disrespected her as queen by marrying below her status without her and Henry’s consent, she still couldn’t help but reconcile enough to help her sister out because she loved her even if she was unable to restore her to favor. I think all the Boleyn siblings were pretty close. The rivalry Anne had was first with Katherine and then with Jane, as far as I’m aware.
I watched the film and I was like 😵💫😬 and I started reading the book and I’m cringing so hard at the caricatures!! Ugh! So hard to see Anne maligned
It really wasn’t great for sure!
This movie was my first introduction to Anne Boleyn. I thought Natalie Portman really captured how I imagined Anne Boleyn looked and also her spirit. Having learned so much more about the Tudors, I now understand how woefully inaccurate this movie is and how ridiculously Henry VIII is portrayed. Agreed it's not a great, historically accurate movie, but it piqued my interest and it is very entertaining.
0:15 starts off great 😂
Thanks for this interesting review, Dr. Paranque! I haven’t seen this movie yet, but I might check it out in any case. I also feel so deeply for the innocent men and their families and friends who suffered because of Henry’s tyranny and his ferocious desire to get rid of Anne. These were truly horrendous times for those men and Anne and they suffered so many injustices. Yes, I can only imagine the terrible pain and trauma that Mary endured. Thanks again!
It is not the best Tudor movie if I’m honest. A waste of a brilliant cast I’m afraid. And yes lots of people suffered in the hands of Henry… 😞 thanks so much for watching my content. I’m so grateful!
And in this movie they made Anne the older sister but mary was older
I thought it was pretty much confirmed that Mary was Henry's mistress at some point, since that was the reason given for the annulment of Anne and Henry's marriage. Heck, her children might even have been his!
No that’s propaganda in Elizabeth’s reign by one of her detractors: Nicholas Sanders. There’s no concrete evidence that Mary was ever Henry’s mistress…
I love history totaly agree it's pure fiction, queen Anne is portrayed in such a bad way that's not who she was, I love your passion and emotion, thank you as always.
Thank you so much! I think Anne as far from being perfect but that’s why we love her so much! 😊 thanks so much for watching…
@@ElleHistory Thank you always a plesure.
Thank you! 😊
Natalie Portman has the right look for Anne Boleyn, but this film is dreadful, and quite disrespectful to Anne
Completely! She would have been fantastic with a better script
I just saw this and love your expression of how it is important to respect history. I'm from Puerto Rico and I love European history as well as Asian and middle eastern. Sadly it is a HUGE thing to turn history into fiction, I mean even in historical dramas made well there's always a little fiction here and there to build the entertainment. BUT overstepping it makes it totally unbelievable to true historians. I myself am not a historic buff, but even I know that too much fiction makes it unbearable. Series like Reign, Tudors,Knightfall, vikings to even other non-European like Wu ze tian and magnificent century have fallen to it also. Sadly.......so many people actually BELIEVE all this fiction.....but that's Hollywood 😞
Exactly! That’s Hollywood. I just hope that one day my History Police videos will make producers realise we can make good, entertaining historical fiction without changing everything and making it wrong! 🙏🏻
Thanks so much for watching. I was in Puerto Rico in 2013. Loved it! 😊🙏🏻
I really really wish someone made a historically accurate movie on Anne Boleyn. And I mean, documentary-level accurate. I bet most people would not recognize the woman.
And I am sure that stands for most historical characters, not just Anne Boleyn.
I’d love that too!!! I’m even pushing myself forward to write the script 🤪 thanks so much for watching! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I just watched this movie and I loved it!! I knew it was inaccurate but, a great film
wow your passion, keep sharing your knowledge & obvious love of history with us. bless u x x
That is so very kind of you to say!! Thank you so much!!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 xx
@@ElleHistory your an inspiration hun ..4 us true history lover's we need true historians doing what your doing , Thank you so so much 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I mean this entire movie was basically saying “see how Mary is better, she got the son and got to survive unlike her scheming sister Anne” and I’m not surprised Philippa hates Anne Boleyn.
Yes the book is better to be fair but it’s still about making Anne look worse than her sister.. and I can’t stand by it..
She hates the Tudors full stop. She is a Richard lover and has tried to rewrite history multiple times
As with all historical movies, well, the majority of the scenes are purely for entertainment and embellish a story that, in reality, was possibly underwhelming. Great insight again Elle, thank you.
Thank you for watching, Jon! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻😊
Interestingly enough, or maybe ironic, is that this movie was out around the same time as the show "The Tudors." And how they portray Thomas in the movie, is the same way they portray him in the show. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the show, because I think there's maybe some similarities between the portrayals. I kind of wonder if writers of historical fiction such as this, care or not (or even think about it) that they're contributing, oftentimes negatively, to someone's legacy and story. Like if their portrayal will affect how someone sees Anne or other figures like Marie Antoinette (i.e. the 2006 movie of the same name).
Very good point. I’m doing the review of the Tudors season by season (or half season by half season because there are so many episodes) so yes I agree, some interesting parallels! 😊🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
And I will do something on Marie-Antoinette too at some point.
Ive not even watched yet, but I'm absolutely positive it's going to get ripped apart 😂
I love the books.
What I think the books and this movie gets right is the impact of the family itself. Its often overlooked how little actual voice noble women had in their life. They were placed in marriage based on what was good for the family. I think her parents greatly loved their children, but as tools that could improve their power standing. They certainly spent energy and time on making their daughters great members of court. Educating them the best they could.
The "romance" between Mary and Henry is ridiculous, IMO. Mary may had been caught up in having the most powerful man in her world notice her, but once he made up his mind, she wouldn't have had much real choice. That she would have played the softer demure lady is possible. Her sister was much more boisterous and siblings are often very different. I don't think they would have fought over Henry. They would've been brought up and trained to accept whatever role their family set for them. Their acceptance of that was equal to their love of family.
Respectfully I feel you’re a little bias towards a saintly version of Anne Boleyn. I don’t for one minute think Anne Boleyn was this movie’s portrayal. It is a bit extreme. What I do see is Anne Boleyn had zero respect for Catherine of Aragon, she wanted Henry VIII to kill Catherine of Aragon and Mary for her own insecurities. It’s very challenging for me to see Anne Boleyn in a positive light considering her behavior towards Catherine and Mary. I definitely think Anne was betrayed and railroaded by Henry VIII once he felt she wouldn’t provide a male heir.
I can see why you’d think that but I’d like to think I’m not. I know she isn’t perfect. Oh dear I know that (same for Elizabeth I) but I tend to not believe what their detractors claimed and look at other evidence to make my own judgement. Thanks again for being here :) I like your comments!
Although the movie is somewhat out of step with history ...what it did for me was ignite a curiosity about the Tudor period .... Perhaps that is it's redemption...
I have nopt seen the film but I have read the book and seen thr BBC adptation of it. The bookiis called the other Bolyn girl but I felt the story was more about Ann than about Mary, so I cam away from the book and the adpatation still knowing nothing about Mary, When a book is called the other that is what I am expectiong to read about or see , which is a sham realy as Mary's story should be told.
Thank you for your videos I love the Tudors have you done a video on the film Henry viii and his six wives 1972?
Thanks so much!!
No not yet but that’s a good idea for when I’m back from maternity leave
I'm sorry, I'm laughing even before I started watching your review...I KNEW you'd be in so much pain from this film being that your are a Tudor expert 😂😂😂 I still love this movie even tho it has BUTCHERED real history. Well, I guess the true fault is the author of the book (Gregory) but I love Anne Boleyn so anything with her is gold to me. Okay, enough talk, let's watch your review!!!❤
PS - I will definitely purchase the book you recommended on Thomas Boleyn! Thank you!
I hope you enjoyed the review!! Thanks so so much for watching! And I have to say I still love Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn haha!
Thank you for another insightful review, Dr Parenque. A film with great casting and magnificent acting but awful portrayal and inaccuracies, especially when Anne out of desperation was asking her brother such horrible thing, twisting facts like that is totally unacceptable and disrespectful. Love your channel.
Bless you! Thanks so much for watching and engaging with my content. I’m so grateful!
I love your channel just started watching it. Please keep making more Tudor videos. I can't stand The Other Boleyn Girl which is funny because I love The White Queen and the whole Cousins' War Series. I don't understand why Philippa Gregory loves Elizabeth Woodville but hates Anne Boleyn. Their stories are quite similar.
Thank you so much. I really appreciate your support!
Yes I wonder why too! Very good point!
As for Natalie Portman as Anne, she's obviously a competent actress. But I've seen better women in the role. Genevieve Bujold from Anne of the Thousand Days, Dorothy Tutin from the 1970s "Six Wives" series and even Natalie Dormer from The Tudors.
The strangest casting for rather obvious reasons would be Jody Turner Smith lol. I'm all for a bit of fantastical recreation (that's why I love Bridgerton) but come on now lol
The film came out when I was a child but already a fan of Tudor history.
A friend of mine loved it but I had turned it off because it wasn't my vision of Anne or Henry. It's the only adaptation which I had that repulsed response to.
I believe I have seen the incest scene so maybe that was the point , but it seemed so incongruous with what I knew and enjoyed about the history.
Yes it has its purpose I guess! Thanks so much for watching my review 😊🙏🏻
@@ElleHistory Thanks for the video. I have been binge watching your channel. 👍
This was one of my very first Tudor fiction movies I saw. I actually thought Mary was a mistress of Henry VIII. My interest to know more lead me to know that there is no real evidence. Even knowing that the present monarchy are descended from Mary through the Carrey lineage is quite intriguing to me. Knowing the truth is a good thing. I don’t know if it is possible but I would love to see a video on Mary Boleyn. 😊
Oh I will be doing one down the line! Thanks so much for your support! 🙏🏻🥰
you mentioned primary sources being really moving when it comes to Anne's trial and execution, all i have read about it has been in books so could you please mention some of said sources? great video by the way❤ as always
Thanks so much for asking. A video on Anne Boleyn’s downfall is coming up. (Wednesday 12/7) I show the primary sources then and they will all be in my forthcoming book on Anne (2024). 😊🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
@@ElleHistory oh, tysm!
@@ElleHistory looking forward to your book💕
Thanks so much. It means so much to me that you say that! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🥰
Thanks so much for your review! I thought it was interesting how Mary took baby Elizabeth after Anne's death I am no historian but I am positive that didn't happen. What are your thoughts on the TV show The Tudors?
Thank you so much for watching.
Yes that bit didn’t agree with me. I me a we know Elizabeth favoured the Boleyns but I don’t see Mary being that close to her niece.
I’m reviewing it season by season soon! (Or even half season as I want to do it justice and there’s quite a lot of episodes 🤣)
I'm surprised you didn’t talk about the scene where Anne convinces George to have sex with her out of desperation to have a son (although at least they didnt go through with it...)
Honestly couldn’t stomach it. Given how the trial record itself is horrendous I just couldn’t…
Hey Elle! I just discovered your channel by this video, and I love Tudor history and Anne Boleyn! Could you please review my favorite Tudor history movie of all time, Anne of the Thousand Days from 1969, starring Richard Burton as Henry VIII, Genevieve Bujold as Anne Boleyn, and John Colicos as Thomas Cromwell? I'd love to hear your thoughts about this film and all these performances, every single cast member (in my opinion), as well as music, writing, settings, costumes, etc., knocked it out of the park! Please??? 🥺🥰🤗
Oh I’m so glad you’re here. If you have a moment watch my videos on Anne… and watch out for an announcement I’ll be making next month that should interest you.
I was going to review it so YES :) I don’t know when it will be released yet so watch this space :) thank you for being here! 🙏🏻
My reaction was same as yours when i saw the movie for the first time😭🥴
It could have been so much better for sure!
Though the story is completely inaccurate, I've always thought that Natalie Portman is the most beautiful of all Anne Boleyns (well, Charlotte Rampling was so beautiful too) and I think that she is the one who looks most like Anne. I don't know, just my opinion.
Totally. I want a better movie with Natalie Portman as Anne Boleyn! Haha! I’ll write the screenplay! 😂
I love natalie portman, I thought she played a good Anne, Unrealistic, actually. Although I loved the movie, I cannot picture women of that time acting like Anne did because they probably would have been burned as a witch. and I love the actor who played Henry- even though he's an actor that looks literally nothing like Henry, and Henry was a fat king.
There is a TV version of the this book, which is very unconventional and low-budget, but it is quite the opposite of this movie's approach - the movie tries very hard to make it clear who is evil and who is the salt of the earth, whereas the show is smoother around the edges and more human.
A side note - huge fan of Eric Bana, but this got to be the blandest Henry the VIII I have ever seen. On one hand it is to be expected because by design of the story he is less of a character and more of an element, if you will, of the story. But Henry VIII is such a Character that it takes an actual effort to water him down this much.
Nobody really knows for sure how they were
No you’re right but when you spend lots of times reading the letters and other primary sources, somehow it feels like you get close to the person if that makes sense?
I think that the director wanted to write a woman's romantic fantasy and just didn't bother to do research.
It’s the author not so much the film that’s an issue. Artistic license is one thing and to be expected, total fabrication is quite another
Indeed!
Thank you. I will not bother watching this movie.....ever. There was some question about Henry and Anne's marriage due to Henry's prior relationship with Mary Boleyn. When Mary was in France she was apparently intimate with King Francis, as he was heard to have made some very open claims as to Mary's lack of virtue. Other sources Indicate Anne had to live down Mary's poor reputation as the immorality would be attributed to Anne as her sister
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Honestly we have no evidence of Mary being prosmicious with Francis I. I don’t think she stayed long enough if I’m honest… and Francis wasn’t king when she was serving Mary Tudor so I don’t know I find it far fetched. Also no evidence Anne was either and even more unlikely in my eyes..
Thanks so much for watching!!! And for your comment 🙏🏻
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This movie never grew on me. I liked reading PG’s novels. And her imagination is wild, and maybe this is why I liked reading them. Sort of a take about medieval woman through the prism of modern one.
But this movie was a major disappointment. There was not a whole lot of history in the novel - the movie chopped up the novel and makes very little sense at all. Great actors, overall cast - wonderful actors, but no chemistry among any of them!
I didn’t care for this movie at all. I love Natalie Portman though.
Yet another flick with Catherine of Aragon shown with dark hair so as to scream, “I’m Spanish!” 🤦♀️ Real Spanish people don’t all have brown hair and eyes. Catherine herself had light reddish hair. Sadly, Hollywood goes for stereotypes too much, and this movie is full of them.
This movie was terrible. Cannot ever watch it again
That movie is the cringiest piece of cringe that has ever cringed!!
I watched it over a decade ago and thinking about it still gives me chest pains, especially Mary Sue - Sorry Mary Boleyn** - and the scenes with her & Henrat which you've discussed in your video. The look on your face says it all 🤣
There's a lot to criticize about this film but the worst part of it for me was that horrid horrid execution scene🤬I mean, I could forgive the rest (Who am I kidding, no I couldn't. But anyways,) but that atrocity is something else. Anne who, even by the admission of her enemies, walked and looked and behaved every inch the dignified queen she was, to make her cry and crumble and shake like this!! No speech, nothing...just thinking about it makes me go UGH 😤I agree that she must have been emotional and naturally she was terrified but I much preferred the subtle way Showtime's The Tudors did it, with Anne starting when the executioner adjusted her coif and her constantly looking around for the sword while saying her final prayers.
Oh my god that bit when you got emotional about Anne's trial 😢Someone I follow made a series about the leadup to her death (A video each day from May 1st - 19th I think) a couple or so years ago and one of the things that stuck with me the most is when she talked about the terrifying speed with which everything moved which made things all the more brutal and horrifying. The fact that five people had their lives turned upside down in the cruelest way possible in just over two weeks...I can't even begin to imagine how they must've felt😖
As always, thank you for another great video 🧡
Yes you’re right just two weeks for them to have this tragic end… my next video is on the downfall instead. So heartbreaking.
Ahh the movie 🙈 if only they had done a better job with such a beautiful cast!
Thank you so so so much for watching! 😊🙏🏻
.... how can you know that Anne Boleyn is religious
Well we have her Christian books of hours where it’s very clear that she was religious.
This is not a documentary, it’s a movie to entertain not to tell a veridical story.
At the end of the day King Henry end up his first marriage to marry Anne and make her queen.
But apparently the Boleyn family still have lots of besties around.
this excuse of "It's not documentary and it's fiction" really doesn't work
writing historical fiction or inaccurate in best way, is to create inaccuracies, not to change something that really happened or alter things and most importantly, don't give historical figures a kind of behavior which they absolutely didn't have! besides, at this point everyone knows how much biased Philippa is and how she totally messes up real figures and events for her own fan girling
@@altinaykor364 you nailed it. I dislike the film most, because even though it may have encouraged some people to read about the history, there are also far too many people who now take it as fact. Too many liberties taken with history make it horrific historical fantasy instead of historical fiction.
The costumes were very off putting and inaccurate.
Drama Queen ...