Here is the tragic story of two obsessed personalities. King Henry VIII delusionally believed that his wish was his command, and his second wife Anne cared more for her pride than her life.
There are strong performances here by Richard Burton as the narcissistic monarch -- "I'm the king of England -- when I pray, God answers" -- and Genevieve Bujold as his headstrong, younger queen.
It was Nan's misfortune to live within a murderously corrupt court, and we're left musing at the peace that may derive from living in obscurity. However, that was not to be for Anne, given her social-climbing father, played coldly by Michael Hordern ("Go now, and cause no trouble. I will not have you put the rest of us at risk.")
One is left with great compassion for Anne, reduced, in the end, to a spot of blood on some straw, but having been moved, as she stepped from her prison to the scaffold -- "The month is May."
I was prompted to watch this film when the commentator Bill O'Reilly noted on his radio show that Anne had died on the day centuries earlier.
History would be different had Anne been more flexible, accepted a marriage annulment, and moved abroad with young Liz. Some things are simply out of one's control...
There are strong performances here by Richard Burton as the narcissistic monarch -- "I'm the king of England -- when I pray, God answers" -- and Genevieve Bujold as his headstrong, younger queen.
It was Nan's misfortune to live within a murderously corrupt court, and we're left musing at the peace that may derive from living in obscurity. However, that was not to be for Anne, given her social-climbing father, played coldly by Michael Hordern ("Go now, and cause no trouble. I will not have you put the rest of us at risk.")
One is left with great compassion for Anne, reduced, in the end, to a spot of blood on some straw, but having been moved, as she stepped from her prison to the scaffold -- "The month is May."
I was prompted to watch this film when the commentator Bill O'Reilly noted on his radio show that Anne had died on the day centuries earlier.
History would be different had Anne been more flexible, accepted a marriage annulment, and moved abroad with young Liz. Some things are simply out of one's control...