Anne of the Thousand Days

This sterling adaptation of Maxwell Anderson's play is one of the few Tudor-related films worth watching. Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) provides both a fine history lesson and a gripping drama, helped along by excellent writing and a near-perfect cast.

Henry VIII (Richard Burton) is angry that his wife, Catherine of Aragon (Irene Papas) is unable to produce a male heir. He becomes infatuated with Anne Boleyn (Genevieve Bujold), the pretty, headstrong daughter of a minor nobleman (Michael Hordern), but finds Anne less than thrilled by his attention - not the least because Henry's minister, Cardinal Wolsey (Anthony Quayle), has refused her request to marry Henry Percy (Terence Wilton). Anne demands Henry annul his marriage to Catherine before submitting to his advances, initiating the "Great Matter" where Catherine's intransigence and the Catholic Church's subservience to Spain lead England to break from Rome. Henry and Anne are finally wed, but Anne proves equally unable to bear a son. With his eye now on demure Jane Seymour (Leslie Paterson), Henry enlists the wholly unscrupulous Thomas Cromwell (John Colicos) to affect Anne's downfall.

A lavish Hal Wallis (Becket) production, Anne of the Thousand Days is a ravishing film to behold. Director Charles Jarrott provides restrained but beautiful direction, helped immeasuribly by Maurice Carter and Lionel Couch's impeccable art direction. Georges Delerue's lively period score is another highlight. But Anne isn't just a bloated costume drama: Bridget Boland and John Hale contribute a script bursting with muscular period dialogue, wit and well-drawn characters that make this messy slice of history understandable and interesting.

Anne's center is a twisted romance with a pre-ordained tragic ending. Anne's intransigence intrigues Henry, and their early scenes crackle with spark and wit. Some of the film's best scenes have the clever Anne outflanking Cardinal Wolsey, unafraid to exercise her sexual hold on the King. But once Henry actually possesses her, Anne's days are numbered. When her position is threatened, Anne becomes believably shrewish, demanding the execution of dissidents like Sir Thomas More (William Squire) and Bishop Fisher (Joseph O'Conor) for questioning her right to rule. The headstrong Anne, forced into a romance she didn't want, and the capricious Henry, ruled by a wandering eye and tempestuous emotions, are a match made in hell.

Unlike other takes on the subject (The Tudors, The Other Boleyn Girl), Anne never degenerates into mere soap opera through the quality of writing and characterization. Henry and Anne's romance is the main subject, but the political and religious upheaval resulting from their doomed love affair is given full breadth. A centuries-old clerical system is uprooted, England's political system revolutionized, and the body count is staggeringly high. It's easy to argue that the English Reformation did much good, allowing England to flower through increased independence, but Henry's reasons for affecting the break are supremely selfish - all for a romance that will dissipate at earliest convenience.

Anne's biggest fault is a rushed second act, which hurries through Anne's reign with undue dispatch. This is redeemed by some powerfully-staged scenes, like More's execution and especially Anne's final confrontation with Henry, but the movie ends with a leaden clunk, as Anne's monologue is echoed in narration as we see Princess Elizabeth toddling about. Yeah, Elizabeth will be Queen one day - we get it.

Genevieve Bujold is by far the best screen portrayal of Anne Boleyn. While many films portray her as a scheming bitch queen (looking at you, Natalie Dormer), Bujold's Anne is an intensely sympathetic character. Trapped by her relatives and ensnared by Henry, Anne refuses to bend to his will, engaging him in verbal one-upsmanship and taking full advantage of Henry's infatuations: if the King wants her, it will be on Anne's terms. Only after they're married does Anne fall for the King, and by then it's too late. Bujold's sensitive, layered performance maintains the audience's sympathy throughout: we tear up at her tragic monologue recounting her "thousand days," and cheer when she bitterly tells Henry off in their last confrontation.

Opposite Bujold, Richard Burton gives one of his best performances. Burton was never a subtle actor but his hammy stylings fit Henry perfectly. Besides a passible physical resemblance, Burton wonderfully embodies the capricious, hot-tempered monarch and bites off Boland and Hale's meaty dialogue with gusto. Aside from Robert Shaw in A Man for All Seasons and Keith Michell in The Six Wives of Henry VIII, he's one of the best screen Henries.

The film benefits greatly from a stellar supporting cast. Anthony Quayle (Lawrence of Arabia) got a well-deserved Oscar nod for his tragic portrayal of Cardinal Wolsey, far more sympathetic than his usual showing as an arrogant, greedy schemer. John Colicos's (Battlestar Galactica) shifty fly-on-the-wall Cromwell makes a suitably devious antagonist, and Michael Hordern (Royal Flash) is dryly amusing as Anne's scheming dad. Dependable pros William Squire (Where Eagles Dare), T.P. McKenna (Straw Dogs), Esmond Knight (A Canterbury Tale) and Vernon Dobtchef (The Day of the Jackal) also make impressions. Only the awkwardly-cast Irene Papas (The Guns of Navarone) is disappointing.

Anne of the Thousand Days is one of the best Tudor-related films to date. With its skillful mixture of romance, political drama and period detail, it comes highly recommended.