2008 Woodie Awards
King Henry VIII reaches playboy of the year status
Lauren Sampson
Issue date: 3/14/08 Section: A & E
Scandals like this one usually can't stay out of the public's eye for a day let alone centuries, so why is it that the trials and tribulations of King Henry VIII's love life are only being brought to the big screen in recent years?
The entire story was most recently dug up and shared with the public through the 2001 publication of the novel, "The Other Boleyn Girl," written by the British author, Philippa Gregory.
The novel took a more inside look at the life of the aristocrat, Mary Boleyn, during the 16th century.
"The book also discusses many other interesting aspects of medieval England, such as homosexuality in the court, oppression of the poor, art, politics with Spain and France at the time, courtesans, and culture. It is an extremely addicting book, I could not put it down once I began it," said sophomore Serena Hunt.
The book received excellent feedback and critique from it's fan-base and even others outside of it. Fanatics of the book couldn't be sure if the film would compliment or ruin this story of scandal.
The film, which shared the same title as the book, was released on Feb. 29, and received somewhat mixed reviews right off the bat.
Some people felt that the story was too much along the lines of a soap opera, and the film was much too "romanticized."
Another small controversy that the British press had with the film was that there were three foreigners cast to fill the lead roles.
Along with the release of both a film and book, HBO also released a series on King Henry VIII's early reign, "The Tudors."
"I like the series, but it has a lot of war/political scenes in it that aren't really my thing. As a whole, I really enjoy reading about medieval times England, I find it really fascinating, and King Henry VIII is by far one of the most fascinating figures in history," said Hunt.
Though the affairs and controversies involving the marriage of King Henry VIII to Katherine of Aragon have not been specifically highlighted in books or films in the past, the time period and events surrounding the scandalous period have been.
"In the 1940s, Charles Laughton played Henry VIII brilliantly and Bette Davis, among several other actresses, has played his daughter Elizabeth, who grew up to become Elizabeth I, one of England's greatest rulers and the last of the Tudor monarchs," said professor Dr. Roberta Staples, English department and department of Women's Studies.
"The early Renaissance is a fascinating and tumultuous time and has been perennially interesting to film makers and theatre and movie-goers. This interest is certainly not a recent phenomenon."
The entire story was most recently dug up and shared with the public through the 2001 publication of the novel, "The Other Boleyn Girl," written by the British author, Philippa Gregory.
The novel took a more inside look at the life of the aristocrat, Mary Boleyn, during the 16th century.
"The book also discusses many other interesting aspects of medieval England, such as homosexuality in the court, oppression of the poor, art, politics with Spain and France at the time, courtesans, and culture. It is an extremely addicting book, I could not put it down once I began it," said sophomore Serena Hunt.
The book received excellent feedback and critique from it's fan-base and even others outside of it. Fanatics of the book couldn't be sure if the film would compliment or ruin this story of scandal.
The film, which shared the same title as the book, was released on Feb. 29, and received somewhat mixed reviews right off the bat.
Some people felt that the story was too much along the lines of a soap opera, and the film was much too "romanticized."
Another small controversy that the British press had with the film was that there were three foreigners cast to fill the lead roles.
Along with the release of both a film and book, HBO also released a series on King Henry VIII's early reign, "The Tudors."
"I like the series, but it has a lot of war/political scenes in it that aren't really my thing. As a whole, I really enjoy reading about medieval times England, I find it really fascinating, and King Henry VIII is by far one of the most fascinating figures in history," said Hunt.
Though the affairs and controversies involving the marriage of King Henry VIII to Katherine of Aragon have not been specifically highlighted in books or films in the past, the time period and events surrounding the scandalous period have been.
"In the 1940s, Charles Laughton played Henry VIII brilliantly and Bette Davis, among several other actresses, has played his daughter Elizabeth, who grew up to become Elizabeth I, one of England's greatest rulers and the last of the Tudor monarchs," said professor Dr. Roberta Staples, English department and department of Women's Studies.
"The early Renaissance is a fascinating and tumultuous time and has been perennially interesting to film makers and theatre and movie-goers. This interest is certainly not a recent phenomenon."
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