This is masterful filmmaking by director John Walsh. It's beautifully shot, wonderfully acted and built around a moment of suspense Hitchcock would have been proud of. But Walsh's greatest masterstroke is his choice of subject matter. On the surface, King Henry VIII seems like a gossipy story that has been the most retold one of the 20th Century.
But as the drama develops, the enormity of the situation hits you. The monarch had long ceased to wield political power, there was something very shaky about the monarchy. In this stylish film, King Henry VIII (TP McKenna) is an arrogant and dangerous but also vulnerable and susceptible to the tricks played by his own mind. Thanks in part to the ghost Queens played by Jean Marsh.
This is on a very small intimate scale, but the claustrophobic sets, haunting music and refined direction make this one of the most tense costume dramas I have seen.
But as the drama develops, the enormity of the situation hits you. The monarch had long ceased to wield political power, there was something very shaky about the monarchy. In this stylish film, King Henry VIII (TP McKenna) is an arrogant and dangerous but also vulnerable and susceptible to the tricks played by his own mind. Thanks in part to the ghost Queens played by Jean Marsh.
This is on a very small intimate scale, but the claustrophobic sets, haunting music and refined direction make this one of the most tense costume dramas I have seen.