Lady Jane (1986)

Wonderful character development!

Instant Favorite.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

History is the version of events that the winners have agreed upon, and I'm more than happy to accept this version. I only wish it had been longer. Beautifully written, exquisitely directed, perfectly performed, flawlessly paced. If the history wasn't exactly like this, it should have been. There's a hideously jaundiced review of this tremendous masterpiece skulking on the internet, courtesy of the Mancunian Grenadio, penned by an Axel van Twithead. Strongly reminds me of the woodnuts who complain that the film Troy doesn't follow the historical truths enshrined in the Iliad. Unbelievable.Further astonishment is purveyed by Wikipedia: Budget $8.5 million, Box office $277,646. Does this really mean $8.25 million went up in smoke ? Is that really possible ? Or do I misunderstand ? And Trevor Nunn has only made three films. I note that Shakespeare is his religion, but it was nevertheless exceedingly interesting to follow the theological and political discussions in Lady Jane. Slightly partisan portrayal of the avuncular Roman Catholic confessor, Dr Feckenham, and the motherly Bloody Mary, under whose rule Philip of Spain became King of England, and during whose five year reign the heretics went up in flames at the rate of one every week. As usual, the DVD case gets it wrong, by asserting that Jane disagreed with the religious beliefs of her fellow ProtestantsDifficult to tell who provided the Shakespearean shimmer over this tale, whether it was the writers, Edgar and Bryant, or principally Nunn, who would seem more probable. I gather nearly all the players were RSC. Look out for the little red-headed Elizabeth. The literary message is immortality through death and I'm a sucker for it. Truly, a memorable treat.

Henry VIII died in 1547. His only son sickly Edward was 9. The country is divided between Catholics and Reformers. Edward likes his cousin Lady Jane Grey (Helena Bonham Carter) and minister John Dudley Duke of Nothumberland (John Wood) sees the young reformer as a perfect match. In 1553 with Edward dying, John Dudley (John Wood) schemes with Frances Grey to put her daughter Jane on the throne and marry her off to his youngest irresponsible son Guildford Dudley (Cary Elwes). The free thinking Jane and the hard partying Guildford hate the match at first. The Catholics want Mary on the throne after Edward's death. Jane would rule for only 9 days.Firstly, I ignore all the historical inaccuracies in this movie. This is not a big historical event. It's not as if a film claims that Lincoln had slaves. There is no real stakes about faking much of this relationship. This is essentially a romance movie and this one follows a try-and-true method. The characters have real heat hating each other in the beginning and that heat powers the romance. Helena Bonham Carter and Cary Elwes are terrific in this. There are some great Shakespearian actors. Some will notice Patrick Stewart as Jane's father. John Wood is impeccable. This is a terrific romantic movie.

This movie is based on one of the sadder and more easily forgotten events in English history. Following the death of the boy king Edward VI (son of henry VIII), there was concern about what to do about succession. He had no brothers and his two sisters were seen by many as being inappropriate to assume the throne. First, but not most importantly because they were women, but more because of how it would affect the newly formed Church of England. Second, because Mary and Elizabeth had been declared "bastards" and were technically unable to assume the throne due to their father's many marriages. The oldest sibling, Mary, was an ardent Catholic and if she assumed the throne, heads would definitely role and the English would be drawn into the fold of the Papacy. And, Elizabeth really couldn't become queen because this same Church of England had complied with allowing her mother's execution on trumped up charges of adultery (the things she was accused of doing were so strange and stupid it is obvious it was all fabricated). If she did, once again, heads would probably roll! So, Edwards' trusted advisers decided on another course--one which had a very tenuous legal basis. They wanted to make Lady Jane Grey the next queen even though she was only Edward's cousin. But, they had more problems than just legal ones. Jane didn't want to become queen, nor was she interested in marrying Guilford Dudley, the stooge they hand-picked for her (he was the son of one of the men who orchestrated this conspiracy). Much of the movie is a moving account of how they basically beat the daylights out of Jane until she agreed to both the wedding and the crown.Quite unexpectedly, Jane grew to like her new husband and that was a shame, as she only ruled England for nine days before Mary asserted herself and had those involved executed. A very sad affair indeed.The film looks quite beautiful and the acting is just lovely. About the only potential negative was a brief nude scene between Jane and Guilford. In the movie, she was supposed to be only 16 (though Helena Bonham Carter was about 19 when she made the film). It just felt uneasy watching two supposed teens making love--ewww. But, otherwise a fine and very interesting film.

I love these historical Tudor dramas, such as the earlier Mary Queen of Scots with Vanessa Redgrave and Glenda Jackson. However, I confess that I caught this one on television and missed a few parts. Unfortunately, I'm not an expert either on the history of its title character, nicknamed the Nine Days Queen, so am going somewhat by others' comments on the historical accuracy.The film chronicles the succession chaos following the death of Henry VIII. When the new king, Henry's sickly teenage son, Edward VI is dying, a scheming minister, John Dudley (Duke of Northumberland), concocts a scheme to ensure a Protestant succession by marrying off his own son, Guildford, to the young king's royal cousin, Lady Jane Grey, a devout Protestant. Lady Jane is merely a pawn forced by her parents to acquiesce to this arranged marriage and claim to the throne. Although at first she detests her new husband, as time passes, the couple fall passionately in love. However, all is not well. Henry VIII's daughter, Mary, claims the crown for herself and must therefore eliminate the young usurper, resulting in the execution of both Jane and Guildford.This is an interesting tale of Tudor court intrigue, with the period costumes, castles, and scenes all beautifully done.Helena Bonham Carter, a very young actress herself, brings a sympathetic portrayal of the 15 year old bookish, devout Lady Jane, coerced by her parents into an unwanted marriage. Also, this young queen's willingness to sacrifice her life rather than renounce her faith (if this is indeed historical) serves as an inspiration for us all. Patrick Stewart is particularly forceful (as always) in his role as Jane's domineering father, Henry Grey, who eventually springs to his daughter's defense by leading a rebellion on her behalf.My problem lies mainly with the historical accuracy. If there is no evidence of true love existing between Jane and Guildford Dudley, it isn't acceptable to simply concoct a sort of Romeo and Juliet type romance out of the story, in order to keep audiences entertained. Perhaps a bit of dramatic license is tolerable with historical figures, but not to this extent. I remember being quite touched by Jane's genuine friendship with her cousin, the sickly young King Edward, which is perhaps more historically based.Lady Jane's claim to the throne was indeed a weak one, and the crown went to Henry VIII's closer kin, his two daughters, first Mary and then Elizabeth. Mary was his older Catholic daughter by his divorced first wife, Katherine of Aragon. This tragic, much maligned figure, who came to be known as Bloody Mary, was poorly treated by both her father and her husband, Philip of Spain, with whom she failed to produce an heir. Elizabeth, Henry's younger Protestant daughter and offspring of his second wife (Anne Boleyn), enjoyed a long reign as Elizabeth I. Lady Jane Grey's story is indeed a tragic one, but she was merely Henry VIII's great niece, a much more distant relative than his daughters.