The story of Henry VIII’s last wife is an unexpectedly arresting one, judging by Karim Aïnouz’s feminist costumer Firebrand.
Back in the 16th century, King Henry VIII of England beheaded two wives, dismissed another two and lost one in childbirth. The only one who got away – somewhat miraculously per Firebrand – was his sixth queen Katherine Parr, who squeaked through an order of execution to survive him. What this story has to do with Brazilian maverick director Karim Aïnouz, whose output has ranged from the edgy walk on the wild side of Madame Sata to The Silver Cliff, to his 2019 best-film winner in Un Certain Regard Invisible Life, is anyone’s guess. But there are enough Tudor fans out there to test the offbeat appeal of this gloriously shot, designed and costumed period film, the director’s first bow in Cannes competition.
Clearly Aïnouz wanted to leave his mark on this alien genre, but Tudor-watchers may part ways with several characterizations, especially that of Katherine herself, updated as a political reformist and arch-feminist by a serious-looking Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl, Tomb Raider). Henry’s union with the intellectual and aloof Katherine, coming at the tail end of his serial marriages, when the king was becoming increasingly irrational and tyrannical as his death approached, seems more like Russian roulette than an opportunity for Katherine to “change the king’s mind” to a more modern outlook, as she hopes.
The screenplay by Henrietta Ashworth and Jessica Ashworth is based on Elizabeth Fremantle’s book Queen’s Gambit and takes the speculation and sometimes downright fantasy even farther, playing up the revolutionary currents in the air and introducing a cabal of smart women thinkers who dare each other to push the limits of their highly circumscribed lives. The writers also downsize Katherine’s romance with courtier Thomas Seymour (a long-bearded Sam Riley), who was to become her fourth husband after Henry’s demise. (That takes place after the story ends and one wonders how it could happen, given a mega-betrayal he engineers against the queen in this film.) In fact, courtly love is noticeably absent from this dark fairytale bordering on horror, a fact that may disappoint a certain swath of the audience.
But it is certainly audacious to write a blood-soaked drama around a woman who dreams of a different future for her country, even as she fights to survive court intrigues and an abusive relationship with Henry. As the curtain rises, she is serving as Regent of England in an austere gray castle in the north, while her husband is abroad fighting a war. Ignoring the danger and the consequences, she rides out into the countryside with a small escort to meet her “childhood friend” Anne Askew, a Protestant preacher who truly merits the title firebrand. Currently considered a seditious outlaw wanted by the Crown, Anne (played with just the right dose of activism and obsession by Erin Doherty) distributes religious texts in English translated from Latin, allowing peasants to bypass the clergy and understand their prayers for the first time. This is dangerous business courting being burnt at the stake, but the clear-eyed Anne accepts the risk. Their emotional meeting reveals a deep bond between the two women that is not really explored; later, the queen is moved to make a gesture that will come back to bite her.
Henry’s early return home throws the court into something of a panic. Fittingly oversize in figure and personality, Jude Law bears a surprisingly likeness to the official portraits under his jowly makeup, jaunty hats and heavy winter clothing, which like all the costumes in the film (the work of Michael O’Connor) are superb. Law’s portrait of the last months of the king’s life, ailing, paranoid and tormented by an odorous, festering leg wound, and a vicious sadist towards his wife, is not for the faint-hearted. Yet there are moments when Henry gets to display some of his legendary charm, like the choral singalongs in which the court spontaneously follows his lead and bursts out in folksy songs, with everyone having a rousing good time. These small glimpses into the lighter side of the Tudor court provide a brief respite from the sinister manipulations of figures like Bishop Stephen Gardiner (Simon Russell Beale) and Edward Seymour (Eddie Marsan), who see Henry’s end is at hand and want Katherine out of the picture.
Almost a footnote to the drama is the presence of Henry’s three children by previous wives: sturdy little Edward who would succeed him, Anne Boleyn’s daughter Elizabeth and Mary, all on their way to the throne. Standing out in the role of 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth is newcomer Junia Rees, whose far-seeing eyes punctuate the final scene.
Giving the film a haunted continuity is Hélène Louvart’s penetrating cinematography that outlines faces as though they were painted portraits and caresses the nobles’ embroidered, fur-trimmed clothes, which they wear like straitjackets. The classic austerity of Helen Scott’s production design foregrounds the cold interiors of undressed gray stone, and there is a mournful quality to the lonely, wind-swept exteriors heightened by Dickon Hinchliffe’s tense background score.
Director: Karim Aïnouz
Screenplay: Henrietta Ashworth, Jessica Ashworth based on the book Queen’s Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle
Cast: Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, Eddie Marsan, Sam Riley, Erin Doherty, Ruby Bentall, Bryony Hannah, Simon Russell Beale, Amr Waked, Patsy Ferran
Producers: Gabrielle Tana, Carolyn Marks Blackwood
Cinematography: Hélène Louvart
Editing: Heike Parplies
Production design: Helen Scott
Costume design: Michael O’Connor
Music: Dickon Hinchliffe
Production companies: Brouhaha Entertainment (UK), FilmNation Entertainment (U.S.), MBK Productions (UK), Magnolia Mae Films (U.S.)
World Sales: CAA Media Finance and FilmNation
Venue: Cannes Film Festival (Competition)
In English
120 minutes