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“The Tudors” Review
By Madeline | January 8, 2008
Showtimes, The Tudors series, was just released on DVD on 1/2/08. As I’d been waiting for it to come out since I heard about it, I immediately snatched it up, thrilled that it only cost about $30 - which it what Showtime would have been per month for me if I’d signed up to watch it week by week as it was intended. Over the last week, my husband and I have been watching all ten of the episodes. Sadly, we finally reached the last of them last night.
So, as an avid history fan, what was my overall opinion of the series? All in all, very, very well done. I was extremely pleased with it. I thought the casting was done very well and the acting was absolutely phenomenal. I admit I was a little hesitant to see Anne Boleyn played by a woman with blue eyes since one of Anne’s defining characteristics was her deep black eyes, but the actress carried the role well and ultimately I was satistfied despite the lack of physical resemblence. I was thrilled with how they portrayed Henry VIII. From everything I have ever read of Henry, he was very much a petulant boy in a grown man’s body with a sovriegn’s responsibility and the ability to be swayed easily when confronted with a good argument - especially when it leaned towards his own personal desires. They did a phenomenal job of displaying his fickle nature and short temper.
The only character that I was no happy with was the role of Princess Margaret. First and foremost, I was not happy with the choice of actress they chose for her. The woman they chose to play Princess Margaret was an obvious tanorexic as was evidences by the map of lines that criss crossed her face at every close up. Noble women of the Tudor era - especially princesses - were terribly fair, much like the actress who played Anne Boleyn’s character. She would never be as bronzed as the actress was. Additionally, I hated how old she was; they should have chosen a much younger woman to play the role. As far as the overall character, I hated her. Henry had two sisters: Princess Mary and Princess Margaret. For some reason they combined them; I have no idea what would possess them to do that. In all actuality, Mary was the one who was wed to the old man, although it was not the Kind of Portugal, rather it was the King of France - he was 54 when they wed. She did not murder him in history, although he did die within three months of their being married - and it was said that he wore himself out in the bedroom which led to his demise. Ew. At any rate, Mary did end up marrying Charles Brandon without Henry’s knowledge and he did forgive them. From what I’ve read though, it appears that they actually had a happy marriage that produced three children. The real Margaret was actually in Wales after her marriages and her second marriage was snuck under the nose of Henry as well, although her marriage was the miserable one. Her husband was the man who had the multiple public affairs. Additionally, the series shows Mary dying in 1530 when she actually died in 1533. Margaret died in 1541, so I have no idea why they had their rendition of Princess Margaret die in 1530. I suppose they just fabricated pretty much everything about the character.
Another serious contention I had with the series is due to the fashion of some of the costumes. I noticed prior to Anne Boleyn’s introduction to the episodes, there were many women wearing French hoods. Prior to Anne coming to court and introducing the French fashion to the people, everyone wore the gabled headress that Catherine of Aragon brought with her from Spain. It was a large, boxy type of headdress that resembled - well, a small house, that framed the face. My biggest issue with the use of the French hood was when I saw Catherine of Aragon wearing it. The true historical figure would not have been caught dead wearing the French hood that her advisary brought to court.
Aside from those major complaints, I absolutely am in love the series. The costumes were breathtakingly beautiful and the scenes were totally believable (with the exception of a few obvious CG moments that they just should have cut - but isn’t that how almost all movies are these days?). As I stated, the casting was well done and the acting was absolute perfection primarily on the characters of Henry, Anne and Catherine. It seemed like special care was really taken to ensure a lot of historical accuracy and I appreciated that.
On a scale of 5 Tudor roses - this get 4.5.
Topics: Tudor Era |
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