Anne of the Thousand Days

Henry wants a son. His wife Katharine has not given him a boy and the king is looking for a way out. He sees Anne Boleyn at court. She refuses to be with him; she says she will not be a mistress, only a queen. Henry accepts. But being married he must first divorce, and the Pope will not allow it. Henry leaves the church and founds his own. Anne becomes queen. Then she too cannot bear a son. The child born is a girl: Elizabeth. Henry looks at another woman and a way is sought to put Anne on trial. Charles Jarrott directs. Richard Burton plays Henry and Geneviève Bujold plays Anne; Irene Papas and Anthony Quayle are in the cast. The source is Maxwell Anderson's play. The film was nominated for ten Oscars and won for costume design. Geneviève Bujold became internationally known through the part; until then she had worked in Canada and France. The narrative is not faithful to the historical record; some meetings and speeches are entirely invented. The matter it treats is a woman's bargaining position; Anne holds hers for a time and loses everything when it goes. Its last section is the trial and the imprisonment; the charges against Anne are shown and the problem of evidence made plain. Its limit is form; the narrative is bound to a stage text and loaded with talk. Another limit is length; the film is long and its middle stretch grows heavy. Who it is for: viewers who like historical drama and classic British period production. Who it is not for: it is long, heavy, and limited in historical accuracy.