Anne Of The Thousand Days

On Friday 11th at 5pm we have ANNE OF THE THOUSAND DAYS (2h19mins) a British period drama film based on the life of Anne Boleyn,

The film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards and stars Richard Burton as King Henry VIII and Canadian actress Geneviève Bujold as Anne Boleyn. Irene Papas plays Catherine of Aragon, Anthony Quayle plays Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, and John Colicos plays Thomas Cromwell.

King Henry VIII discards one wife, Catharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favour of a young and beautiful woman, Anne Boleyn, whose one-thousand-day reign as Queen of England ends with the loss of her head on the block. Henry weds Anne and soon she gives him a child. The girl, Elizabeth, is a bitter disappointment to Henry, who desperately wants an heir. Anne promises Henry a son "next time", but Henry is doubtful. Shortly thereafter, rumours begin that the King's eye has already wandered. One Jane Seymour is at court for a moment. The Queen has her sent away, but, if Anne will bring Jane back to court, the King promises to sign the Act of Succession to ensure that Elizabeth will be Queen.

‘’ It is a memorable film, well nominated, exquisitely costumed. I like Richard Burton best of all in this one. He takes up the role of Henry VIII and gives it many subtle shades of feeling so that you almost understand what might have really transpired in such a king's turbulent soul. He was somewhere between a rock and a hard place and rushed headlong into history with his determined efforts to change the rules of kingship.
Anne Boleyn, here played by Genevieve Bujold, was caught up in these events and ultimately became a casualty of circumstances. I'm not a history buff so can't fill in the true story but it's obvious there was much political intrigue taking place. Also, it rather reminded me of "Othello" in which the ill-fated Desdemona was victimized by Iago's slander. Genevieve portrays Anne with deep conviction and her tremendous vehemence at times sweeps us along through happy moments as well as fiery clashes with family, king, and authorities.
For me this film goes hand in hand with A Man for All Seasons and Mary, Queen of Scots for some great drama on screen.’’

‘’ Visually the movie is a splendid; the two principals are excellent, there's no need to add to the praise they have already received; the most difficult part is perhaps that of Anne; She begins as a romantic careless young girl, who still thinks she can fall in love and marry the man she loves. Little by little, she becomes an ambitious unscrupulous woman; when she realises her fate is sealed, she transfers her thirst for power to her daughter: the final words are highly prophetic and actually the two apparent losers of Charles Jarrot's two historical movies (Anne in 1970, Mary Stuart in 1972) were actually the posthumous winners: Elizabeth the First was one of the greatest sovereigns England had ever had and James Stuart reigned over England and Scotland after her death.’’ IMDb reviewers