The Other Boleyn Girl

Colour, 35 mm
United Kingdom, USA, 2008, 115 min
Section: Horizons

About the film

1525. Young Mary Boleyn is manipulated by her ambitious family into a relationship with the irascible and fickle Henry VIII. The monarch soon tires of his naive and devoted lover and turns his attentions towards her older sister Anne. Anne, however, has greater ambitions than merely satisfying the king’s whims and bearing him his yearned-for heir: she wants to sit by his side as the new Queen of England. Yet Mary, who is truly in love with the king, does not give up and a struggle for love and power erupts between the sisters. Is there room for true love in the stifling web of court intrigue? And is Anne prepared to pay for her ambitions? This star-studded adaptation of Philippa Gregory’s novel was taken up by screenwriter Peter Morgan, who has other “monarchist” themes to his credit: the television movie Henry VIII (dir. Pete Travis, 2003), the drama The Last King of Scotland (dir. Kevin Macdonald, 2006) and the tragicomedy The Queen (dir. Stephen Frears, 2006).

About the director

Justin Chadwick (b. 1968, Manchester, UK) originally established himself as a successful television director. His credits include episodes of the series Byker Grove (1998) and Murder Prevention (2004) and the miniseries Daylight Robbery 2 (2001). He showed his interest in costume dramas as a co-writer on the Shakespeare Shorts (1996) project, which was one of his first television successes. His greatest triumph so far, however, has been the series Bleak House (2005), which combined elements of historical and courtroom drama (and received a BAFTA award). As an actor he has appeared in films such as London Kills Me (dir. Hanif Kureishi, 1991), The Hour of the Pig (dir. Leslie Megahey, 1993) and The Loss of Sexual Innocence (dir. Mike Figgis, 1998). Another historical romance named Birdsong will be released in cinemas in 2009.