Henry VIII’s courtship strategy might be summed up as “bed ’em, wed ’em and (when necessary) behead ’em.” The randy royal spread his DNA through a succession of wives and mistresses, but his most famous conquest was Anne Boleyn, the youthful coquette who would not surrender to the king until he made her Queen of England.

What’s little known is that Anne vied with her own sister, Mary, for the king’s affections. The contest was set in motion by the girls’ own father, Thomas (Mark Rylance), who knew that positioning a daughter in the king’s bed would increase his own fortunes.

As portrayed in The Other Boleyn Girl, Henry’s appetite for both girls soon pits them against each other. Though Mary (Johansson) is the first to bear the monarch’s son, she is summarily exiled to the country, and Henry turns his attentions to her calculating sister (Portman).

As the vixenish Anne, Portman is both charming and vulnerable—a vain, imperious but very young girl who cannot foresee the consequences of her royal gambit. Though she gets her way, and her crown, Anne cannot produce the male heir Henry so desperately wants, and her descent from triumph to terror is well played by Portman. Johansson’s Mary is tremulous, sincere, the picture of virtue—a young woman whose conscience does not slumber in the face of temptation.

As King Henry, handsome Eric Bana is all dash and covert menace; he and the scheming Duke of Norfolk (David Morrissey), who helps Thomas Boleyn turn his daughters into courtesans, are casually cruel and whimsically dangerous.

Of course, everyone knows this soap opera’s final act. Within three years of her coronation, Anne Boleyn lost her head at the Tower of London.
 
As historical dramas go, The Other Boleyn Girl is not great cinematic art like, say, Becket or The Lion in Winter. But it is fascinating and darkly beautiful to look at. Enjoy it for what it is: a superior bodice ripper with some capable performances.

By Marjorie Preston

Marjorie is Managing Editor of Casino Connection Atlantic City.

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