Did anyone else watch “The Tudors” on Showtime? I really want to like this show, and will keep watching.
But I was a little disappointed. I’d hoped it would grip me the way Rome on HBO did. But what I saw was a lot of gorgeous costumes, with some political scenes added to make it seem “meaningful”. Oh, and gratuitous sex scenes, because this is cable and we can!
And why is Catherine of Aragon always portrayed as dark in complexion? Because that is stereotypically Spanish? Every movie I’ve ever seen that portrays her that way, (with the exception of the Masterpiece Theater epic). According to the portrait I saw, her hair was reddish-brown, and her skin fair.
And I thought Henry was fair as well.
At least we get gorgeous costumes. Or did I mention that before?
That’s why she looked so familar- can’t remember her character’s name, but she is the one that ended up with the real career and Jimmy as boyfriend/manager in The Commitments.
Sorry…started another thread, thought no one watched
Henry should have been a red-head damnit- they could have at least dyed it to ruddy color if nothing else but other than that… not bad.
Question though- I am used to thinking of this period in terms of Elizabteth I. Is the Duke? of Buckingham any relation (or ?) to the Duke of Northamberland (sp…damn I know it’s wong). Anyways- can anyone clarify the relationships for me (also who in the hell is Brandon? I already know who Henry, Catherine, and the Boylen guy is).
I take it this is a new series. Is it like other series, concentrating on the amours of Henry VIII? Or does it expand out to deal with other members of his family, such as his two sisters, who themselves both led interesting matrimonial lives?
[extreme sarcasm]
Damn, I definitely wanted to watch that. It seems that Showtime kept that a big secret. Maybe they should have advertised it more.
They only showed a “behind the scenes” or a “making of” or a “meet the stars” segment after every movie for the last 2 months.
Perhaps they could have shown ads for “The Tudors” during other movies on Showtime?
[/extreme sarcasm]
I’m sorry for that rant (or was it more of a hijack?) but those ads for the last 2 months were a bit much.
Sorry.
And to avoid this being a total trainwreck/hijack, I will answer the OP’s question:
Charles Brandon was a close friend of Henry VIII. He was created Duke of Suffolk and married Henry’s younger sister Mary after the death of her first husband, King Louis XII of France.
Historicaly…did Brandon continue to think Henry was ok after he axed a wife or two?
I like the series…but am curious to see how they can make Herny look attractive/empathetic? Seems the only thing going for him that way is the lack of a male heir (although historically, he gets one in the end). Does Henry, before he dies, realiize the frailty of his son?
It’s hard to tell from the previews, but there was one scene in them where H8 was shouting at his sister(not sure which one) about a marriage. Showtime has a website with a section devoted to the show, but I’ve avoided peeking ahead to see how far this season will go.
I enjoyed it and mean to keep watching. Catherine definately should have been fair, though. And the dude playing Buckingham looks more like Henry VIII than whats-his-name who’s actually playing Henry does. They ought to at least have dyed his hair. Other than the looks, I can’t quibble with the portrayal of Henry. At this stage in his life he wasn’t yet the monster whom history came to know. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with the character as time (and his nastiness) progresses.
Wolsey and More were quite well cast. And I like that the men playing Henry and Brandon are similar in appearance. Although that means that the actor playing Brandon ought also to have been a redhead. But whatever.
They’re fiddling with the timeline, too. The events of last night seem to be around 1520ish (when the Field of Cloth of Gold summit took place), but by that time, Charles Brandon ought to have been created Duke of Suffolk, and been married to Henry’s sister for 5 years. That marriage, as far as I can tell from the previews, hasn’t yet taken place in the series.
Finally, I wonder how they are going to deal with the fact that the circumstances around Henry’s divorce and remarriage to Anne Boleyn and all that mess took years and years and years.
I thought it was okay. Not the calibre of HBO series like Rome, Carnivale, Big Love, or Dexter. But not bad. Realizing that pilots are all about introductions, I’m willing to see whether the writing improves and the characters become less one-dimensional.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers was badly cast as Henry VIII. He’s too short and his pinched, sneering face makes him better suited to play Henry VII or Richard III. You know who would be a magnificent Henry VIII? Ray Stevenson, who played Titus Pullo on Rome. Stevenson is not only better suited physically to the part, he’s the better actor.
I don’t much like Jonathan Ryhs Meyers as Henry, either. He’s not big enough or boisterous enough (“Bluff King Hal”).
I think they’re showing him being harsh with Catherine too soon. He was supposedly very affectionate and respectful towards her (and was discreet with his affairs) until well into the divorce business, only growing nasty afer a few years of her opposition. They’re going to lose some of the drama of his transformation by “The King’s Great Matter”.
He did, and Brandon was even involved in one of the axings (He was one of the people involved in the arrest and questioning of Catherine Howard.) He and Henry apparently had a little falling out when he first married Mary, but they reconciled when Brandon and Mary’s first son was born.
The Duke of Buckingham is Edward Stafford. He’s the brother-in-law of Henry Percy, the Earl of Northumberland. (He’s married to Henry’s sister Alainore).
Yep. Don’t you think the Buckingham guy would have been better?
Also true. From what I’ve read, Harry was the type of guy who was pretty easy to get along with so long as things were going his way. It was only once people stated crossing him (“What do you mean, I can’t have a divorce?”) that he turned into history’s monster.
Some things I did like – I liked that, before he ever met Anne Boleyn, they showed Henry’s growing suspicion that his lack of male heirs may be stemming from his marrying his brother’s wife . Too often, the Anne/ Henry thing is characterized as him 'Risking All For The Love Of A Woman." It was a lot more complex than that.
I also liked the bit where Henry was talking to Thomas Boleyn about the King of France and wanted to know whether he was better looking. “What about his calves?” “Well, nobody has better calves that you, Sir.” I liked that – it felt right.
I’m afraid worse things are a-coming, though. I did a bit of looking around and it looks as if the writer has combined both of Henry’s sisters into one character and instead of marrying her to either the King of France or the King of Scotland, instead has her marry the King of Portugal! Don’t know why they felt the need to do that – it seems like, with a whole season of shows to work in, they could have kept closer to the truth! Of course, the writer is the same guy who wrote the Cate Blanchett Elizabeth movie, so it isn’t surprising to find he changed things Just Because.
I watched the first episode on Charter.com. Agreed on JRM: what were they thinking? I’m well aware that young Henry was athletic and handsome, but you just can’t see this ever being this- the frame’s not there. (Young Brando and young Orson both had fuller faces and stockier builds even when young and slim that supported their girth in later years (and both were struggling with weight control when they were young); you can see JRM developing a paunch but not like the one Holbein and the “expanding codpieces” captured.
Also he’s too young. Henry was approaching middle age when he met the Boleynes- especially for the 16th century when even for those who survived childhood the odds of living to be really old weren’t that great. (Yes, I know that even then 60-year-olds weren’t considered ancient and many people lived into their 80s and beyond, but not as frequently since there was no such thing as a lumpectomy or even CPR and a cut on the finger could lead to death.) Henry’s father died at 52 and very few of his ancestors cleared 60, and this had to have been a factor in his desire for a son- he had to have known that his 30s [when he had definitely begun to lose his youthful good looks and put on some padding] was his last real chance to have a son and live to see him grown (and in fact it would have been) and that along with her bitchiness had much to do with his fury at Anne B. keeping him waiting til his early 40s for kids and then bearing a live daughter (“Mon Dieu! Another one!”) and a dead son.
Now Eric Bana (from the German for “Hubba hubba”), who plays him in an upcoming movie, I can TOTALLY see making the transition and he’s the right age.
Of course my main complaint is GOD’A’MIGHTY HASN’T THIS BEEN DONE TO FREAKING DEATH! We all know how it ends all around and we’ve already seen JRM nekkid in several movies, plus Keith Michell did the role to (low budget but near) perfection 30 years ago, believable as the young idealist romping romantically with Catherine of Aragon and as the morbidly obese tyrant unable to service Katherine Howard (and what a piece of acting Angela Pleasence gave in her “morning after” scene- that was incredible). There are hundreds of scholarly works, hundreds of popular histories, thousands of novels, hundreds of movies- the field’s been plowed into dust.
If you just want to do ermine, velvet, and nudity then there’s nothing wrong with that, but why not do Charles II or Katherine de Valois or even Henry II (at least he’s not as done to death, and the young Eleanor & Henry could be a great miniseries [The Lions in Spring?] that even has the added benefit of a Crusade and incest). Finding out if Henry’s gonna leave Katherine of Aragon for one of the Bullen girls and if so which ain’t exactly suspenseful.
