Anne of The Thousand Days

While not historically accurate, it is still a sublime historical drama. It centers around Anne Boleyn's rise to prominence and her ultimate demise at the executioner's sword. While at court one day, she catches the King's eye. She, however, is in love with a courtier whom she is to marry. The King, besotted by her, refuses to grant her permission to marry, and her courtier is forced to marry another. The King pursues Anne, while still married to the aging Katherine. Anne refuses to give in and become his lover, knowing that once she does, she will be yesterday's news. Holding Cardinal Wolsey responsible for the loss of all her hopes and dreams, she plays him like a fiddle, eventually bringing about his downfall. With Cromwell on the ascendancy, however, little does Anne know her troubles are just beginning.

Angry at the turn her life has taken, Anne becomes a doyenne of intrigue and, as with Wolsey, also plays the King like a fiddle, setting into motion the events that would bring about the great Reformation, which would transform England from a Catholic country into a Protestant one. While she finally succeeds in marrying the King, she fails to produce the son that Henry VIII so desires, though the fault is Henry's and not hers, as we now know that it is the male who determines the sex of a child. The terms of Anne's reign would cost her dearly and her legacy would be a bloody one. What had started out with high hopes would end tragically for her and set a precedent that would make all future wives fearful of coming to the same end. Ironically, Henry would never know that his child with Anne would become the greatest monarch that England has ever known, Elizabeth I.

This Is a film that all lovers of period pieces and historical dramas will enjoy. It is simply a great movie.


The mother of Elizabeth I makes for a good drama   July 3, 2003
Peggy Vincent (Oakland, CA)
25 out of 26 found this review helpful

Anne Boleyn, her predecessor, and the 4 who came after her as Henry VIIIs wives (three Catherines, two Annes, and a Jane) make for terrific drama, history, literature. Getting a dose of this Tudor lineage via a good movie makes the medicine go down easily. Anne B. was the first of his wives to die by beheading, and the role as played by Genevieve Bujold is well done in this rendition. That Boleyn was a woman before her times in terms of intelligence and wit makes her ultimate downfall all the more poignant. Her sin? She gave birth to a daughter (who would become Elizabeth I) instead of a son. Richard Burton, cast as the mercurial, mad, and ruthless Henry VIII, is masterful. Costuming and setting are spectacular.
Terrific theater!


Acting of the Highest Level   May 6, 2000
Reginald D. Garrard (Camilla, GA USA)
23 out of 27 found this review helpful

With the recent death of John Colicos, who portrayed Thomas Cromwell in the film, I had to add my voice to others who praise this movie. "Anne of the Thousand Days" makes for one tour de force of outstanding performances. Stars Richard Burton and Genevieve Bujold exhibit the craft of acting at its most flawless as Henry VII and his ill-fated seond wife Anne Boleyn. The initial sexual attraction and subsequent verbal "duels" between the two characters are mesmerizing and delivered with force and passion. Both deservedly were given Oscar nominations.

But, it is Colicos who walks off with the acting chops as the manipulative Cromwell. Every time he is on screen, one can see a truly despicable historical presence. Whether the interpretation is accurate or not does not take away from Colicos's performance. It is the stuff that should have garnered an Academy Awards nomination.

Unfortunately, in this case, it did not! Why Anthony Quayle received one for his work is beyond me!

That complaint aside, I wholeheartedly recommend this splendid film.


Not historically accuarate, but endearing   July 25, 1999
22 out of 24 found this review helpful

The woman that would become the mother of the greatest English monarch, Elizabeth I, is explored throughout this film. She was also the second queen of Henry VIII and the catalyst of the English Reformation. Inasmuch as Bujold gave a riveting performance as the stubborn, ambitious, and doomed Anne Boleyn, there were many historical inaccuracies. For historical purists like myself, this movie may be disappointing, but if you don't care, I highly recommend it. It is also visual candy for those that delight in costume drama.

This movie can be broken down into three sections, which in one poignant scene, Anne describes as the "thousand days".

The first section: Anne beguiles the most powerful man in England, Henry VIII, who has an almost torrid lust for her and must have her at all costs, including his immortal soul. I'll grant that historical accuracy. He breaks from the Catholic Church so he can divorce his first wife, Katharine of Aragon, to marry Anne. He strips those of power and office that cannot provide the consequences he so desires (the divorce). He also executes several opposers to the divorce, including the highly respected and beloved Sir Thomas More.

Second section: He beds Anne, marries her, and she becomes pregnant.

Third section: Anne delivers an unwanted female child who, in a sad irony, would become the future Queen Elizabeth I. Henry quickly tires of Anne, and after she delivers a stillborn son, her fate is sealed.

Bujold and Burton give superb acting performances and I was particularly moved at a sequence where the doomed and jailed Anne confronts her husband. In this sequence, she exclaims to him that "her" Elizabeth will be a "great queen" regardless of his aspirations for a son. The execution and the last sequence are quite moving. It is remarkable that not more movies were made about this fascinating woman, who though died in disgrace, left a great legacy behind. The legacy of Queen Elizabeth I.


Classy drama, though not historically accurate   September 1, 2005
Thomas Keneally (Portland, OR)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

Charles Jarrott's movie has a superb cast and is beautifully photographed. It shows an extremely complex period of English history. Like the original play, the screenplay by John Hale and Bridget Boland, from an adaptation by Richard Sokolove, is the story of Henry's courtship of Anne (while he is still married to Katherine of Aragon), his break with Rome when he decides to divorce Katherine to marry Anne, and his final break with Anne when she cannot provide him with a male heir. Richard Burton as Henry and Genevieve Bujold as Anne have a battle of sexes and are a delight to watch. Miss Bujold, the French-Canadian actress, is a constantly delightful surprise as the young girl who first comes to respect Henry for the power she can wield, and then, just about the time he is growing tired of her, to love him. I say she's a surprise only because she has such a perfectly conventional beauty that her intelligence seems an unexpected dividend.

It is sad that neither of them got an oscar despite sterling performances. The screenplay was also wonderful, though a lot of people may not approve of it. Everytime Henry meets Cardinal Wolsey, "How are you, my Vicar of Hell?" When Henry goes letching after Anne, old Wolsey is likely to wink and observe: "Where the dove is, the hawk cannot be far behind." Anthony Quayle does a good job as the cardinal.

Henry, "Anne, why do you taunt me so much."
Anne, "Percy is married, your Grace. "
Henry, "I had nothing to do with it."
Anne, "So, Wolsey is King of England is it?"
This enrages him so much that he drags her aside and says, "I am the King of England."

Bujold had a few successes like Coma after this movie but this was one of her big successes. It is sad that very few people remember her and the oscar went to Maggie Smith. Though I enjoy her acting too, I do not remember that movie as I do this one. It is sad when an actor like Nicholas Cage gets an Oscar and one like Richard Burton gets disregarded so many times. People like Katherine Hepburn got 4 oscars, I frankly do not think that she deserved more than two of them, while people like Peter O'Toole got overlooked seven times. I wrote to Universal and asked them if they had plans to come out with a DVD of this, unfortunately they have nothing in the near future. They asked to keep checking their website. I guess us hopeful ones must keep waiting until they release this on widescreen DVD.