Review of Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) by Bill T — 25 Jul 2010
Weighing in at 2 and a half hours, Anne Of The 1000 Days certainly needed to justify it's lengthy running time for me. After all, I had just seen a movie (America America) that was woefully too long and painfully dull in some stretches.
But Anne is never dull or boring, and the movie's running time is more of a blessing then anything else, because this is a fascinating story, the acting here is so good, that you don't realize the time whizzing by.
Richard Burton is here playing Henry the Eighth (I am, I am, Henry the Eighth I am) who seriously needs some marriage counseling happening, as he goes through many wives at a drop of a hat, finding the feeblest excuse to hold his hat on.
Genevive Bujold plays the ill-fated Anne Boleyn, the most famous of his wives. It's funny how I think I know everything I needed to know about these characters when I watched this, but I soon found out that I knew very little.
According to the movie, Boleyn was adamantly opposed to the wedding at first. She was in love with someone else, and didn't want to give that up. The serious implications that Henry VIII would face when he divorced Queen Catherine is also discussed too.
(And here I thought he had her killed!).. Burton and Bujold are fabulous here, it's quite amazing they didn't win Academy Awards for their performances here. The film is very nicely designed and laid out, with lots of apparent real locations.
This was quite a delight!
This review of Anne of the Thousand Days (1969) was written by Bill T on 25 Jul 2010.
Anne of the Thousand Days has generally received very positive reviews.
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