The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory tells the well known story of Anne Boleyn with a bit of a twist that is not so well known. There is another Boleyn girl, Mary, who is the first to win King Henry VIII’s affection. Henry takes Mary as a mistress after his first wife, Katherine of Aragon, fails to produce an heir for his throne. After Mary has fallen hard for the King in comes Anne dark and enchanting to steal him away from more than just her sister but also the Queen forever changing England. For more historical fiction by Gregory click here.
This is another much too large novel that film makers tried to cram into one movie. I didn’t realize this until after later, having seen the movie first and really enjoyed it I went and got the book. The book definitely put all the characters in the movie into a completely different light. Mary (Scarlett Johansson) in the book has two children, a boy and a girl, from her affair with the king. These children become the loves of her life after being pushed aside by her sister and the king. Her strong affection for them is the key to her family using her even more. In the movie she has one child, a boy, and basically immediately shipped away with the child no one in the family showing much concern for either of them. Mary’s detailed plot lines from the book after her and the king break up are chopped from the film.
Anne (Natalie Portman) in the book is much more evil than the film. Often times in the film one feels sorry for her and is rooting for her to overcome all the obstacles in her way to the top. The book though doesn’t sugar coat anything she does. Her actions are terrible and it makes sure that is known, making her much more hated in the book. Now Anne and her brother’s (Jim Sturgess) relationship is one altered in the adaptation as well. He is much more of a main character in the novel. In the film he tries to have an affair with his sister to produce an heir for the king but decides he cannot. In the book the two do have an affair and it results in a dreadful deformed miscarriage, plus he also has a gay affair in the book that is an important plot line but the movie never touches upon.
And finally King Henry (Eric Bana) is as well was made much more lovable in the movie than the book. In the movie he is an elegant, passionate, powerful king who stays handsome and fit the entire time. In the book he is a selfish, ignorant, childish king who by the time Anne really gets to have him is large and unattractive. I much prefer the Eric Bana king though instead of the more realistic version in the book. These are just some of the more important characters and how they were altered. There are some other characters as well that have plot lines in the book that weren’t touched upon for if they were also changed the character significantly. More or less the movie wanted to keep the eye candy appeal going the whole time. I enjoyed both versions this time I think, that could be though because I did see the movie first instead of second, so the book just kind of built upon a story I had already enjoyed.
Trailer:
Enjoy!
(I take no credit for the pictures or video used in this post)
