**WARNING SPOILERS - for those of you unaquainted with English history**
This is an excellent period drama with a good cast including Donald Pleasence (Thomas Cromwell), Charlotte Rampling (Anne Boleyn), Jane Asher (Jane Seymour), Lynne Frederick (Catherine Howard), Michael Gough (the Duke of Norfolk) and Brian Blessed (the Duke of Suffolk) and an excellent portrayal of King Henry VIII by Keith Michell.
Michell is very good as Henry VIII, portraying the King from his youth, married to the Spanish Katherine of Aragon, to his old age with the wife who would out-live him, Catherine Parr. Over this period of time Michell undergoes a serious transformation from an energetic young king to an immense gout-ridden old man. However, Michell's transformation is not merely cosmetic and he manages to change his voice, posture, bearing and the whole character of the king.
The story charts the six marriages of King Henry VIII. First his marriage to Katherine of Aragon (Frances Cuka), mother of the future Queen Mary "the Bloody", for whom he had genuine affection but whose inability to conceive a son resulted in Henry's divorcing her and the King's historic break with the Catholic Church and their "Bishop of Rome".
A slightly weightier Henry indulges in a passionate love affair with Anne Boleyn (Rampling), mother of the future Elizabeth I "the Virgin Queen", which ended with the King's paranoia placing her head beneath the executioner's axe. Henry then moves on to Jane Seymour (Asher), the only one of his wives that Henry seems to have genuinely and enduringly loved and may well have stayed with had she not died giving birth to Henry's only son, the future Edward VI.
After Jane's death the King is persuaded by Thomas Cromwell (Pleasence) to marry again and chooses the German Anne of Cleves (Jenny Bos) on the basis of a rather too flattering picture - this portion of the film is surprisingly funny, as the much older and fatter Henry is visibly distressed by Anne's grotesque appearance.
Perhaps one of the most touching parts of the film is the marriage between Henry and Catherine Howard, like Anne Boleyn, a relative of the Duke of Norfolk, who would follow her to the block, played exceptionally well by the late Lynne Frederick. Frederick is beautiful and so much younger than the extremely overweight Henry that it makes her obviously genuine affection for the old King all the more touching. Unlike Anne Boleyn, the King was forced, very much against his will, to have Catherine be-headed and the scene where the King bursts into tears in front of the entire Privy Council is very moving.
The film closes with Henry on his death-bed, surrounded by many of the same advisers who had made his life so difficult (I rest easy in the knowledge that most of them were later executed by the King's formidable daughter, Elizabeth) and his last wife, Catherine Parr (Barbara Leigh-Hunt). This is a film of epic proportions and, although not as good as the B.B.C. series (also starring Michell), it is excellent and the costumes and setting are divine.
The good thing about this film is that it shows Henry as more caring than he is usually portrayed and reveals how he was the victim of many visissitudes at the hands of his most loyal lieutenants, especially Norfolk, Cromwell, Cranmer (Bernard Hepton), Gardiner (Garfield Morgan) and Wolsey (John Bryans). Watch out for the brilliant scene where Donald Pleasence's Cromwell is de-frocked by the entire Privy Council - it's movie magic.
7/10
This is an excellent period drama with a good cast including Donald Pleasence (Thomas Cromwell), Charlotte Rampling (Anne Boleyn), Jane Asher (Jane Seymour), Lynne Frederick (Catherine Howard), Michael Gough (the Duke of Norfolk) and Brian Blessed (the Duke of Suffolk) and an excellent portrayal of King Henry VIII by Keith Michell.
Michell is very good as Henry VIII, portraying the King from his youth, married to the Spanish Katherine of Aragon, to his old age with the wife who would out-live him, Catherine Parr. Over this period of time Michell undergoes a serious transformation from an energetic young king to an immense gout-ridden old man. However, Michell's transformation is not merely cosmetic and he manages to change his voice, posture, bearing and the whole character of the king.
The story charts the six marriages of King Henry VIII. First his marriage to Katherine of Aragon (Frances Cuka), mother of the future Queen Mary "the Bloody", for whom he had genuine affection but whose inability to conceive a son resulted in Henry's divorcing her and the King's historic break with the Catholic Church and their "Bishop of Rome".
A slightly weightier Henry indulges in a passionate love affair with Anne Boleyn (Rampling), mother of the future Elizabeth I "the Virgin Queen", which ended with the King's paranoia placing her head beneath the executioner's axe. Henry then moves on to Jane Seymour (Asher), the only one of his wives that Henry seems to have genuinely and enduringly loved and may well have stayed with had she not died giving birth to Henry's only son, the future Edward VI.
After Jane's death the King is persuaded by Thomas Cromwell (Pleasence) to marry again and chooses the German Anne of Cleves (Jenny Bos) on the basis of a rather too flattering picture - this portion of the film is surprisingly funny, as the much older and fatter Henry is visibly distressed by Anne's grotesque appearance.
Perhaps one of the most touching parts of the film is the marriage between Henry and Catherine Howard, like Anne Boleyn, a relative of the Duke of Norfolk, who would follow her to the block, played exceptionally well by the late Lynne Frederick. Frederick is beautiful and so much younger than the extremely overweight Henry that it makes her obviously genuine affection for the old King all the more touching. Unlike Anne Boleyn, the King was forced, very much against his will, to have Catherine be-headed and the scene where the King bursts into tears in front of the entire Privy Council is very moving.
The film closes with Henry on his death-bed, surrounded by many of the same advisers who had made his life so difficult (I rest easy in the knowledge that most of them were later executed by the King's formidable daughter, Elizabeth) and his last wife, Catherine Parr (Barbara Leigh-Hunt). This is a film of epic proportions and, although not as good as the B.B.C. series (also starring Michell), it is excellent and the costumes and setting are divine.
The good thing about this film is that it shows Henry as more caring than he is usually portrayed and reveals how he was the victim of many visissitudes at the hands of his most loyal lieutenants, especially Norfolk, Cromwell, Cranmer (Bernard Hepton), Gardiner (Garfield Morgan) and Wolsey (John Bryans). Watch out for the brilliant scene where Donald Pleasence's Cromwell is de-frocked by the entire Privy Council - it's movie magic.
7/10