Despite having only five monarchs in its dynasty the Tudor era is fascinating to film and television productions. Out of those five only two ever get those two productions. When was the last time anyone saw an Edward VI or Mary I biopic? The long reign of the lusty King Henry VIII continues to be big entertainment. Henry VIII, the 2003 television miniseries, perhaps spends too much time with one of our unfortunate Mrs. Tudors to the detriment of her successors. However, good performances and production design lift up Henry VIII to solid entertainment.
The first part of Henry VIII is dominated by the love triangle at the heart of "The King's Great Matter". Henry VIII (Ray Winstone) is desperate for a male heir. His loyal wife Catherine of Aragon (Assumpta Serna), widow of his brother Arthur, has managed only one daughter, Mary (Laura Belmont). Mindful of his father's warning to bear a son to keep the dynasty and power going, the King despairs. He also despairs for the attention of the beautiful Anne Boleyn (Helena Bonham Carter). Mistress Anne will not, however, become Henry's mistress. She is also enraged that her own betrothal was overthrown by Henry's chancellor Cardinal Wolsey (David Suchet).
Mistress Anne, however, is too much for Henry to resist. He will discard Catherine for Anne, even if he has to destroy his kingdom and tear Christendom in two to do so. While Woolsey ultimately fails in his mission, Henry is still able to split from both the Catholic Church and Queen Catherine. Sadly, Queen Anne manages to pop out only yet another daughter, Elizabeth. With that, her time is up.
At last, Henry turns to respectable and twice-widowed Catherine Parr (Claire Holman). She is witty and a good companion for the ailing King. She is also a tool of the Seymour brothers, courtiers who are also Prince Edward's uncles. They bide their time for two things. The first is to position themselves as regents for the future Edward VI. The second is for one of them to marry Catherine Parr, which he had always wanted. How will Henry VIII close out his reign?
Henry VIII is entertaining, with sumptuous costuming and sets that befit our noble subject. Rob Lane's music is also appropriate. It is grand and elegant.
A lot of the acting is quite solid in Henry VIII. This is one of the first if not the first major appearance of Emily Blunt. She makes Catherine Howard into a tragic figure. Catherine Howard is, like Henry, a lustful figure. However, she is also a pawn in the various machinations of her powerful family. She is quite desirous when having an affair. Yet, her end has Blunt give a deeply moving portrait of this foolish, tragic young girl. As she stands on the scaffold, making her final statement, I think audiences will feel genuine sympathy for this misguided strumpet.
Helena Bonham Carter is an old hand at costume dramas. Here, her Mistress Anne is feisty and strong. She is able to stand up to just about everyone. Anne is able to stand up to Henry, up to a point. She also shares sharp words with Serna's Queen Catherine. Like Blunt, Carter excels in showing Anne's courage against her accusers. She is even able to show dismissiveness towards their cavalier and arrogant manner. When facing her own execution, Carter again like Blunt, is moving in her performance.
Serna herself has several strong moments. Of particular note is when she is made to appear before the kangaroo court set to declare her marriage illegitimate. Defending herself as a good, loyal wife, Serna also showcases Catherine of Aragon's quiet strength.
The men are not short-changed either. David Suchet, best known as Agatha Christie's master sleuth Hercule Poirot, does fine work as Cardinal Woolsey. He is cold and unfeeling when torturing Charles Dance's rebellious Duke of Buckingham. He also shows how he is both able to match wits with Carter's Anne Boleyn and see that she is more than his match. Suchet's final scene where he pleads for his life as the guards take him away show Woolsey crumbling.
In a subplot, Sean Bean pops up as Robert Aske, a formerly loyal lieutenant outraged at the Disillusion of the Monasteries and the ensuing violence. We open the second half of Henry VIII with the violent reprisals against the monks and nuns by the state. This arouses Bean's Aske to act against this brutality. Bean expresses that fire and righteous anger. It makes the ultimately false show of friendship by Henry all the more tragic for Aske's final fate. Mark Strong's arrogant and scheming Duke of Norfolk shows his villainy and manipulation.
In the central role of Henry Tudor, I am of mixed opinion. I struggled initially to see Ray Winstone as our virile young or even middle-aged monarch. He seemed a bit too working-class to be imagined as a regal figure. He did grow on me in the role, however. I think his large frame felt more natural as Henry grew older. However, his gravelly voice did seem a bit at odds with how I see this not-so-merry monarch.
Where I think Henry VIII does go wrong is in where it chooses to focus on. The saga of Henry and Anne Boleyn has been chronicled so many times that one wonders if Henry VIII could have done one of two things. I imagine focusing exclusively on the second Mrs. Tudor would have been old hat, even if Helena Bonham Carter made for a good Mistress Anne. The second choice, to give her story less prominence, might have been better.
That is because the second half of Henry VIII felt almost rushed into a frenzy. I think that there was exactly one brief scene where we saw the fourth Mrs. Tudor, Anne of Cleves. She disappeared so fast from the program that one would not be blamed in wondering whatever happened to her. We learn via Derek Jacobi's voiceover at the end that Anne of Cleves outlived all the other wives. We do see her pop up at Henry's funeral. However, what she was up to all those years, or how Henry got rid of her, Henry VIII does not answer.
Jacobi's narration also seems a bit meanspirited towards other characters who were virtually invisible. Peter Morgan's screenplay refers to Henry's oldest daughter as "Bloody Mary", adding that she died "embittered and unloved". It seems unfair to trash Mary I so hard. Granted, burning people is not the best thing to do. However, Princess Mary was stripped of her title after Henry dumped her mother for his bit of fluff. She was forced to declare that she was a bastard. She was forbidden from seeing her mother, even from attending her funeral. That would be more than enough to make anyone feel embittered.
These bits of historical fudging of facts seem more editorializing than necessary to move the plot forward. It might make for good drama, but showing Henry beating up the pregnant Jane Seymour seems so odd. This is especially odd given how Henry was so desperate for a male heir. Showing that he came inches from forcing a miscarriage again seems so bizarre.
As a side note, I figure that Aske and his Pilgrimage of Grace were needed to set up the Jane/Henry conflict. I do think, though, that the entirety of that subplot might be better suited for a miniseries of its own.
Despite some quibbles, Henry VIII does an overall good job covering this most fascinating of historical figures. Good performances and sumptuous production (albeit with some dodgy CGI castles) elevate this Henry VIII to a higher level of viewing.
7/10
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