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Very interesting!
posted by
Whacky
on November 7, 2008 at 7:06 PM
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Thanks, Malcom!
The history of England, from the Plantagenets through the Tudors, has been one of my favorite periods of history--colorful and dramatic, glorious and tragic, joyous and as sad as life can be... It helps to stimulate interest also that there are some excellent movies that bring home the emotional immediacy.
Peter O'Toole played Henry II twice, in his youth and middle age, in Becket with Richard Burton) and The Lion In Winter (with Katherine Hepburn). The first great Planagenet, he was the father of Richard the Lionheart, and Bad King John, in the time of Robin Hood.
Kenneth Branaugh's film of Shakespeare's Henry V is wonderful and compelling, and compelled me to do some research, to find out what history really says about the Battle of Agincourt. (Shakespeare's histories were written to make the English seem better than they were, in fact, and always calls for some remedial reading!)
Materpiece Theater offered productions of The Six Wives of Henry VIII and Elizabeth R in the 1960s. The production values were not nearly as fine as more recent Elizabeth films, but the history is probably more reliable.
Likewise, a delightful summary of Henry was made some years earlier: The Private Life of Henry VIII that starred Charles Laughton--the history is a bit glib, but the movie is fun!
Anne of the Thousand Days, starring Genevieve Bujold and Richard Burton is an intense film of Anne Boleyn's rise and fall.
Of the recent Elizabeth movies, I believe the history is better served by Helen Mirren's than by Cate Blantchett's. Both made great Elizabeths, but the two films in which Blantchett stars are more artistic than accurate.
By the way, I just spent a while reading online the Sparks Notes on Elizabeth, and would not give it too much weight as a resource.
posted by
Ciel
on November 7, 2008 at 10:38 AM
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Re: That ending was so unexpected!!!!
For Thomas Seymour as well!
posted by
Ciel
on November 7, 2008 at 10:11 AM
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Drawing no parallelographs here, Naut... just some quiet rumination!
One of the better biographies of Elizabeth I is
Elizabeth the Great by Elizabeth Jenkins. It was, I think, the primary source material for Masterpiece Theater's
Elizabeth R which starred Glenda Jackson, a fabulous Elizabeth! (She reprised the role for a later film about Mary Stuart--played by Vanessa Redgrave)
posted by
Ciel
on November 7, 2008 at 10:11 AM
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Fascinating insight
I'll share this with our son, Ivan, who is studying History 'A' Level at the moment
posted by
malcolm
on November 7, 2008 at 9:22 AM
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That ending was so unexpected!!!!
posted by
Straightforward
on November 7, 2008 at 5:58 AM
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Ciel
Interesting stuff! I didn't know about the 'horseplay' between Tom Seymour and Elizabeth! But tell me, what kinds of parallels are you drawing here? What kinds of 'horseplay' has your new ruler been involved in?
posted by
Nautikos
on November 6, 2008 at 6:29 PM
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