Nick M
With Anna Boleyn Ernst Lubitsch has orchestrated what is perhaps the most impressive historical period drama yet seen on the silver screen. No expense was spared for the construction of its ornate sets, nor in the elaborate and luscious costumes worn by the enormous cast. The crowds of extras are staggering in size, and the scenes where they shine leave one with the appropriate impression that a king's power extends truly only as far as the people will tolerate. Emil Jannings is *excellent* as Henry VIII, and Henny Porten plays her role well as the oft aggrieved and eternally pinballed Anne Boleyn. With so many nice things to say about the film, it's unfortunate that it isn't very engaging. The two hours drag on, and I was left feeling that the vast majority of the loving attention devoted to this picture was applied to the set dressing, with little to spare for the script.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
12/05/24
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Google
Absolutely boring. Obvious tokenization and pandering by race swapping Anne. Nothing but cringe.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
06/16/21
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Audience Member
Anna Boleyn is undoubtedly an ambitious production. With regal set pieces, costumes, and massive crowd scenes that seem logistically impossible, one can't help but sit back and be genuinely impressed with the feat that the film achieves. However, Anna Boleyn's ultimate flaw is that, regardless of that, it's just boring. Clocking in at two hours, the film drags on far longer than it needs to - stretching out the melodrama to a point that is almost criminal. One baffling thing about the film is just how underwhelming the score is. Had the music been anything more than just a single piano, it would have been a much more immersive experience. One bright side to the film is Emil Jannings's King Henry VIII, but even that is not enough to save it. Anna Boleyn means well, it truly does, but its lackluster storytelling coupled with its unimpressive score leaves the viewer yawning.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
02/14/23
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Audience Member
It's a story we all know. Jannings gives a great performance as Henry, but otherwise, this wasn't very interesting at all.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/22/23
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Audience Member
[i]Anna Boleyn
[/i]dir. Ernst Lubitsch
In this early version of the Anne Boleyn tragic saga, she is portrayed as a neurotic vacillating between four primary states: crying, on the verge of crying, fainting, and on the verge of fainting. She doesn't do much else besides look terrified, put off, and otherwise uncomfortable in this 1920 silent directed by Ernest Lubitsch.
Emil Jannings plays King Henry VIII as a man who seems to have no time for important matters of state. He's too busy drinking, eating, hunting, and chasing anything with a skirt and pettycoat. Indeed, this film eschews any historical authenticity in favor of a magnificently designed feast for the imagination. The scale is quite grand and there are hundreds of extras milling about in crowd scenes such as Anne's coronation. The story itself is sacrificed to the grand elegance of the spectacle. Gestures are naturally quite grand and Henry is prone to announcing loudly whenever he's doing something of historical importance.
Anna (Henny Porten) comes off as rather pathetic and not sympathetic in the slightest. Therefore, her demise carries no emotional weight. One can only put up with such simpering spinelessness for so long before one starts to drift. Unfortunately, Janning's portrayal of Henry is also mostly a one-note affair. Sure, he's beefy and horny but there really is nothing much else to him. He doesn't do any important procedural stuff, he doesn't even really appear to be king. He's just a fat man running about trying to get his fingers in the knickers of some swooning hottie or another. It's rather comical, actually; so, as a comedy this film works quite well.
Overall, this film does manage to create a visually stunning representation of the court of King Henry VIII. It captures the drama, the sexual escapades, and the terrible story of Anna (Anne) Boleyn. Ultimately, it doesn't dare try for historical accuracy because the point of the film is primarily to structure a dream theater replete with grandiose measures and expansive set designs. It certainly feels like it might be taking place in the presence of a king even if the king himself doesn't appear to be particularly stately. Ultimately, this is a fine introduction into the numerous filmic representations of the wretched story of Anne Boleyn. Still, Henny Porten's Anna lacks many of the qualities that history has affixed to the person of the actual Anne Boleyn. It's a decidedly strange characterization that paints Anne as far more hapless and weak than she seems to have been. There's no way Anne Boleyn could have maneuvered her way to the Queendom if she were as feeble as this.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/08/23
Full Review
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