The Other Boleyn Girl (film)
The Other Boleyn Girl is a 2008 film that is a romanticized account of the life of the 16th-century aristocrat, Mary Boleyn, who was the sister of Anne Boleyn and one-time mistress of King Henry VIII of England.
The only thing that could come between these sisters... is a kingdom. taglines
- Directed by Justin Chadwick. Written by Peter Morgan, based on the novel by Philippa Gregory.
Katherine of Aragon
- [to Anne and Mary] I am Katherine, Queen of England, the King's one true wife and mother of the heir to the throne. Beloved of the people, and beloved of a King you have bewitched.
Dialogue
- Katherine of Aragon: [being led to court; stops in front of Mary and Anne] Well, if it isn't the Boleyn Whores. Two former ladies of mine. Hiding in shadows. What did I do to upset you, that you should turn against me like this?
- Anne Boleyn: [nose in the air] You failed to give England an heir.
- Katherine of Aragon: And that upsets you so?
- Anne Boleyn: What upsets the King upsets me.
- Mary Boleyn: Anne.
- Anne Boleyn: I meant to come sooner. I'm sorry I did not. I've been kept occupied.
- Mary Boleyn: So I hear: amusing the king.
- Anne Boleyn: Only that sister, I assure you; despite his best efforts...
- Mary Boleyn: What, and not yours?
- Anne Boleyn: How is it?
- [glances towards Mary's belly]
- Mary Boleyn: The child is strong, gives me no rest, like his father.
- Anne Boleyn: Do you feel as awful as you look? You know, in France, no woman would allow herself to get in such a state.
- Mary Boleyn: Why did you come Anne, if all you desire is to torment me?
- Anne Boleyn: Perhaps now you know how it feels: to be deceived by your sister.
- Mary Boleyn: I did nothing.
- Anne Boleyn: You stole the king away, and then you betrayed me over Henry Percy!
- Mary Boleyn: If that's what you think fine tell yourself that!
- Anne Boleyn: I did sister, every day and every night I was in exile.
- King's Messenger: [Messenger walks in, holding a gift] A gift, from the king.
- Anne Boleyn: Give it to my sister.
- King's Messenger: It's for you mistress Anne.
- Anne Boleyn: Me? Then send it back! Immediately!
- [looks at Mary]
- Anne Boleyn: How dare he! See? I have your interest at heart.
- Mary Boleyn: Why? Why this cruelty? You know I love him.
- Anne Boleyn: Well perhaps you should stop.
- Sir Thomas Boleyn: Alright, now, open!
- [advising Mary to open her eyes]
- Sir Thomas Boleyn: I am to become an earl, your brother a viscount. In addition, we have received a number of new grants and estates, so are debts are paid and there's more: George, the king will arrange a match between you and Jane Parker.
- George Boleyn: [frantic] I beg you father, no.
- Sir Thomas Boleyn: I thought you had ambitions for this family. The girl is well connected, her fathers' cousin to the king.
- George Boleyn: Must I actually marry her?
- Sir Thomas Boleyn: Of course you must marry her. Have you no pride? Or would you rather leave everything to Mary?
- King Henry VIII: [talking in secret] Your sister is gone as you wished. Will you give yourself to me now?
- Anne Boleyn: No. When you are loyal to me above all others.
- King Henry VIII: But I am.
- Anne Boleyn: No. You are loyal to the queen above all others.
- King Henry VIII: I barely see Catherine.
- Anne Boleyn: But she sits on a throne beside you. Your right hand in matters of state.
- King Henry VIII: For appearances-sake only.
- Anne Boleyn: Still, she is your queen. And ever present.
- [pauses]
- Anne Boleyn: I feel her eyes on me. And those of her spies. Look at us. Forever reduced to meeting in secret like this. Speaking in whispers. Hardly conducive to passion.
- King Henry VIII: What you have me do then?
- King Henry VIII: What's so amusing?
- Anne Boleyn: I was merely offering my thoughts on the new French king. With such great power, yet such meager authority as a man.
- King Henry VIII: Continue.
- Anne Boleyn: His pettiness is astounding. He will bear a mortal grudge at the mildest of slights. Spoiled cub with a spike in his paw. Riveted with resentment. Unable to forgive or forget. A great king, a great man rises above such things.
- King Henry VIII: And what would you know of great men?
- Anne Boleyn: I've read enough books and heard enough talk to believe I'd know one if he were before me.
- King Henry VIII: Then look about you. I am curious. Do you see one here?
- Anne Boleyn: Looking my lord... still looking, my lord.
- [pause]
- Anne Boleyn: [looking at the king] Ah! There. Found one.
- King Henry VIII: [laughs to himself as the subjects in the room start to laugh]
- Mary Boleyn: [in Henry's bedchamber] So, this is it?... Where the king of England sleeps?
- King Henry VIII: And reads and writes. Finds a few moments each day to himself.
- Mary Boleyn: [nervously] And yet you invite me here?
- King Henry VIII: Because I like you and trust you.
- Mary Boleyn: You hardly know me.
- King Henry VIII: I am lied to a hundred times a day. Petitioned. Lobbied. One learns how to decipher a face.
- [caresses Mary's face]
- King Henry VIII: Yours is as the sun. One shouldn't gaze too long.
- [pauses]
- King Henry VIII: My flattery makes you uncomfortable?... Because compliments in your family are usually for someone else. The elder sister... That's something I understand. What it is to be the second child. Forever in the shadows... I'm making you uncomfortable again.
- [Mary smiles, shaking her head as Henry leans in and kisses her]
- Mary Boleyn: Mother, please! Speak to father... Do something... I don't want to go!
- Lady Elizabeth: This is not a request. We have been summoned.
- [gets up and leaves the room]
- Mary Boleyn: [to Anne] Please don't be angry with me... You think I desired to go for this purpose?
- Anne Boleyn: All I know is that a man who didn't know who you were was with you in that room for a half-hour and came out completely besotted!
- [starts to leave]
- Anne Boleyn: Don't know what you said or did!
- Mary Boleyn: Nothing sister! Except sing your praises and talk about my husband.
- Anne Boleyn: Really? Well, you must show me how you did that sometime!
- [leaves the room]
- George Boleyn: [about Henry Percy] He's betrothed.
- Anne Boleyn: Betrothed is not married... It is a long way on bended knee to the altar.
Taglines
- The only thing that could come between these sisters... is a kingdom.
- Two sisters divided for the love for a king.
- In an age where a woman's destiny was determined by her father, one sister followed the rules. The other defied them.
- What if you could have everything you ever wanted? What if all you had to do was betray the sister you loved?
- They were the closest of sisters, until the most powerful man in the world made them rivals.
- They are sisters, and therefore, born to be rivals.
Cast
- Natalie Portman - Anne Boleyn
- Scarlett Johansson - Mary Boleyn
- Eric Bana - Henry VIII
- Jim Sturgess - George Boleyn
- Mark Rylance - Thomas Boleyn
- Kristin Scott Thomas - Elizabeth Boleyn
- David Morrissey - Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk
- Benedict Cumberbatch - William Carey
- Oliver Coleman - Henry Percy
- Ana Torrent - Katherine of Aragon
- Eddie Redmayne - William Stafford
- Juno Temple - Jane Parker
- Iain Mitchell - Thomas Cromwell
- Andrew Garfield - Francis Weston
- Corinne Galloway - Jane Seymour
- Bill Wallis - Archbishop Cranmer