Thursday night - while Vincent watched the mediocre "Jumper" - Stephanie and I watched "The Other Boleyn Girl," with Scarlett Johannson and Natalie Portman. Stephanie had read a book about Anne Boleyn and while living in Ohio we saw the opera "Anna Bolenina", and of course I remember the old PBS Henry IV miniseries, and we'd all seen the original "Elizabeth" movie. (The movie depicts Johnannson and Portman as two Boleyn sisters who are rivals for the love and favor of English King Henry VIII. We're not sure whether Johannson's character, Anne's younger sister, is an actual historical figure.) I missed a small part of the movie with Boleyn's descent from grace. But it was an interesting period piece, with some modern photography, depiction of family quarrels/intrigue/solidarity, and historical accounting. It was amazing to see how much power the men had - especially the king - but also fathers and uncles and husbands who were ready essentially to pimp out their women for favors and wealth and power (that was almost always very transitory). And yet the women were not portayed as just victims. We like both of these actresses. We've seen Johansson n "Match Point" and "Lost in Translation" and Portman in "Cold Mountain" and of course the Star Wars movies (plus I've seen her in "Closer" and "Garden State") (along with the actress who played their mother, Kristin Scott Thomas).
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