Well, here we are again! LADY JANE, is, of course, about our infamous "9 days Queen." It stars a very young Helena Bonham-Carter as the Lady in question, and a VERY young Cary Elwes ("Glory", "Robin Hood, men in Tights") as Guilford Dudley. Also appearing is Patrick Stewart as Jane's father. All our Dudley's are there (though without their beards), the Duke of Northumberland, Robert, etc.
The film does not beat around the bush, but starts right in with WHY Jane had to be Queen. It also shows how parents disciplined their children (a little unnerving to youngsters), and how educated Jane really was! The politics start, and Jane is introduced to Guilford (who was out the night before "wenching"). They hate each other! But are married anyway....and (you guessed it!) they fall in love! (all together now----ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!) A set of unfortunate circumstances arise (most notably, Cousin Mary), and her cabinet leaves her, she is arrested, and off goes everyone's head.
So..........was it good history, a good film, or
what? Well, yes, it was a very good film......and MORE historical than the
present ELIZABETH (in my humble opinion). It was MUCH more easy to follow--but,
alas, some thing HAD to be sweetened because of it. Guilford and Jane's falling
in love is "nice", (and in real life they do seemed to have loved each other),
but a little contrived. The ending is extremely accurate, with only ONE mistake
that I could see. Historically, Jane's last words were "Into thy hands I commit
my spirit", but here, to emphasize the love of the two, it is simply
"Guilford!". Her reaching for the block is there, however, and my ONLY real
complaint with the film is the downplaying of the religious question that
brought the whole affair about.
Some things I do, however, question. Guilford is made
to look like a rebellious teenager (which he just may have been!) and the
entire middle of the film compresses SO much that what happened just does not
appear to have happened in the time allotted. This is, however, nit-picking.
The film was MEANT for those with NO knowledge of the affair--and on that
ground I believe it succeeds better than ELIZABETH does. My daughter (who is
also my test person) was able to follow it completely. She did not become
confused and questioned very little.
The film LOOKS great--but not as refined as
ELIZABETH--here, undoubtedly, budget got in the way. Carey "I, unlike other
Robin Hoods, can actually speak with a British accent" Elwes really does look
enough like Joseph Finnes so that the two films could be seen side-by-side and
you would believe they WERE brothers! All the acting in Lady Jane was
great---it truly made the movie!
Here is the bottom line on a
scale of 1 to 5 "D"'s (for Dudley, of course!
SETS AND APPEARANCE: D D
D D
ACTING: D D D D D
HISTORICAL ACCURACY: D D D D
PLOT: D D D D D
So go rent it TODAY---it is on video, and
available at just about any video store and MANY libraries (which is where I
get it all the time!) OR...
Think you may want the VIDEO?
Buy the Video Today! | Front Page |
Email Me |