This historical drama is directed by Karim Aïnouz and written by Henrietta Ashworth and Jessica Ashworth. It stars Alicia Vikander as Katherine Parr, the sixth and last wife of King Henry VIII. It is 1546 and Henry returns from fighting overseas to take over his duties from Katherine who has been acting as his regent. He is seriously ill, and becoming more and more paranoid that his wife’s more radical Protestant beliefs are a danger to the throne.
I have loved British history since I was a kid, but not so much this period as it is over exposed. There have been some excellent depictions of it, though, notably A Man for All Seasons and the TV show Wolf Hall, and, of course, Carry on Henry! Firebrand is not at that level but it is a nicely internecine plot of court-plotting and counter-plotting.
Vikander is decent and an almost unrecognisable bloated Jude Law is enjoyable as the mean king who is literally rotten. The stand out performances come in the supporting cast from Erin Doherty as Anne Askew, Katherine’s old friend and “heretic”, Eddie Marsan as Edward Seymour, Sam Riley as Thomas Seymour, the brothers of Henry’s third wife and particularly Simon Russell Beale as the scheming Bishop Stephen Gardiner.
The film is lit in a gloomy way, probably accurately depicting how the king’s palace would have looked at the time which might put some people off. But I found it a literate and thought provoking snapshot of the last year of the life of one of our most famous monarchs.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10