Lady Jane
|
Our Price: $19.09 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $7.92 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Canada
Movie Reviews of Lady Jane
Movie Review: Superior film,magnificent screenplay,historical license make LADY JANE a must see!
Summary: 5 Stars
After THE SIX WIVES OF HENRY V111 and before any of the "ELIZABETH's",( and the upcoming ELIZABETH:THE GOLDEN AGE with Cate Blanchett), PLEASE... stop and a take an earth-shattering look at LADY JANE with Helena Bonham Carter and Cary Elwes.This is one sumptuous film from acting right down to the magnificent and stirring Stephen Oliver Soundtrack.The story of Lady Jane Grey helps fill in the period of time and the players in the English Religious "bloodbath" that occurred between the time Henry V111 dies and before his first daughter ,Catholic Mary Stuart a.k.a. "Bloody Mary" ascends the thrown and before Protestant Elizabeth becomes Queen of England.
The story of Lady Jane Grey is truly the saddest IMO of them all.Intelligent,well read and fifteen,Jane (Helena Bonham Carter) becomes the unwilling pawn of her parents and others to keep a Protestant on the throne.She is forced to marry Guilford Dudley (Cary Elwes),another reluctant young pawn in order to secure the English Throne.Jane Grey's parents were known to be awful towards her, and Sara Kestleman as Frances Grey is as cruel and sadistic as a mother could be.The screenplay is quite direct and accessible and the characters are well delineated
in order to keep a very central story moving along.Historically, the only real liberties are in the creation and assumption of what transpires in the lives of these two in the very brief nine days where they are on top of the world,as it were.If the love story is fabricated....who cares...it's a good one done by two wonderful young actors of their generation!!!For nine brief days, Jane ruled England.Did she ever really want to? Historians and the director,Trevor Nunn resounding say NO;but like most players in that time,many lost their heads either willingly or unwillingly either in pursuing or fleeing the crown!The rest of this film is downright accurate and quite compelling.
Of all the "English monarch films" I put LADY JANE at the "head" (or should I say "headless"!) top of the list.Anyone who follows the topic of the Catholic-Protestant "throne trade-off years" will love this one.This is a film to watch many times for its fine acting,cinematography,and educational value.Chances are.....you will cry because history is quite unfair to innocent people!
Movie Review: Dearest Jane..*sigh*
Summary: 5 Stars
I haven't seen such a profound movie in so long really, they simply don't make films like this today.
I was actually unfamiliar of Jane Grey's story and it was *after*, that I started buying books about it and started to understand. I honestly watched the movie because I wanted to see one of Cary Elwes' earliest roles, and he was so young! And really a divine performance, he truly did not dissapoint! Anyhow, I already knew Helena, but never really was a fan of her, and I saw this!! Wow! She blew me away, she was just, I don't know, and her chemistry with Guilford, ugh! abs. divine!
The feeling, the MUSIC! My goodness, I've been reading others searching for the soundtrack, I am one of them!
If you really concentrate watching it, and connect to the film, regardless of the inaccurate facts, you will BAWL!I cried so, so very much, when we see the last of Guilford, and the ending, Jane's beheading (actually I was still crying b/c of Guilford) and, how, at that point I couldn't stop thinking Mary was evillle..and gosh, why! why Poor Jane, and poor Guilford! It would've been sooooo interesting though, if Jane were alive and kept queen...
*Sigh* I happen to read someone say 'it really makes you wish you weren't living in those eras'...I was thinking exactly the same thing while weeping hysterically,....How fortunate, you live in the modern world where you're not put to death so barbarically, how lucky you or I am not in Jane's position! and how the world has changed so much! And the importance of religion, etc..Gosh, Really! To be made queen, knowing how wrong it feels, and that you are punished because of it! It's one of the reasons I got so emotional, it's the situation she was in, it was literally beyond her control, unloved by her parents, abused, etc.
I also wish (as some of the other reviewers) that they showed Jane before her marriage and accession, living with Elizabeth in Katherine Parr's home, and etc., I guess they used that time to develop the sweet love story...oh well!
Movie Review: Helena Bonham Carter is amazing in her film debut
Summary: 5 Stars
As is noted elsewhere, there is some artistic license taken with the actual story of Lady Jane Grey. Most notably, Lady Jane and Guildford Dudley were not in love by any documents of the era, which renders the whole "love story" of this film invalid.But as a simple period piece I really love this movie, and here's why:
1. Helena Bonham Carter gives a truly astonishing performance in her first movie. This film began a string of "period costume drama" performances for the actress that have since been surplanted with modern roles such as "Fight Club" and "Planet of the Apes". Her language - both spoken and simple gestures - are so expressive and she portrays a young woman who is well educated and full of passion.
2. The central conflict at the end of the film comes in her unwillingness to give up her religious beliefs. She is a protestant and her cousin, Queen Mary, is a staunch Catholic. Mary wants to make up for a lifetime of slights and abuses given to her Mother, Catherine of Aragon, whom Henry VIII divorced when Mary was unable to bear a male heir to Henry. The real Lady Jane was not only a protestant, but carried on correspondence with the great protestant minds of her day including John Calvin. It is not often that any popular form of entertainment is made depicting a person willing to die for their religious beliefs. I am not advocating protestantism, per se, only admiring this film's willingness to demonstrate a strong faith which doesn't involve religious fanaticism.
3. The real Guildford Dudley wasn't the love of Lady Jane, but Cary Elwes' performance here stands up well next to Bonham Carter's superlative one. I suspect this role may have led to his being cast in "The Princess Bride".
Pretty much no extras on this DVD, but this is a truly fine film (albeit historically misleading), and it's not one of those $30 DVD's either.
Movie Review: Birthright and power after Hentry VIII's death
Summary: 5 Stars
Well, we all more or less know the story of Henry VIII and his reign. Most of it is attributed to his many wives and his effort to separate England from the Catholic Church. But once King (Henry VIII and his son Edward) died, court had to deal with counry that is divided by church, religion and potential fight on who will inherit the throne. Lady Jane was Henry's nice, daughter of his siter Frances. Young and well educated, she is an idealist who is being used for political purposes by the court advisors and her own parents. Without being groomed for power and reign, she is ill equipped to lead the country that is in trouble politically, economically and spiritually. Newly married, she is deeply influenced by her husband and her own strong will. It does not take long before Mary, her cousin and Henry's daughter with his marriage with Catherine of Aragon of Spain takes action to regain her crown and her birthright to reign Englad, Ireland and France. With the help of the Spanish Army, Mary reclaims her throne and eventually executes her cousin Lady Jane, pretender to the throne. Young Helena Bonham Carter gives wonderful performance of a young woman (Lady Jane) from aristocratic family, ill prepared for the duties her family laid out for her in unprecedented political coup that lasted only 9 days and took lives of most of her family, including her father and her husband.Movie Review: A bookish teenage girl's dream
Summary: 5 Stars
I too was a teenager when I first saw this movie, at the time I was really starting to fall in love with the Renaissance. (I ultimately studied Renaissance lit in college, and maybe this movie had a little bit to do with that!) At my young age, I was of course drawn to the romantic part of the story--I was hopelessly enchanted with Cary Elwes, and I'm sure the blossoming romance between Guildford and Jane caused me a great many sighs. Okay, so it is a little fairy-taleish and not exactly true to history (I once read that it is uncertain whether or not their marriage was ever consummated) but it was awfully fun to watch.
Now that I'm older, however, I've noticed some other things that interest me more than the love story, like the political machinations of Northumberland and Jane's parents, and the stark portrayal of the treatment of women in that time period. Jane was vitally important to the plans of her parents, and yet they beat her nearly senseless for refusing to marry Guildford Dudley.
Helena Bonham Carter and Cary Elwes are very believable in their roles--Jane seems otherworldly and disconnected from her feelings due to her obsession with learning; Guildford is a handsome rake who does actually have deep thoughts and ideas about things, contrary to what Jane thinks at first. Both roles were excellently played.