Top Tudor Historian Rates Famous Movie Scenes

I don't think I can watch any more of this can we turn this off and she did like lavalter she liked to dance all her life actually as if she would have said that to Elizabeth's face do you know what if you're going to include a scene when Elizabeth and Mary meet at least has to be realistic I'm Dr Nicholas and today we're going to be doing historians gogglebox with Tudor movies man have you considered what I asked how could I ever trust you when I've seen how you portrayed first your wife now my sister no no no oh okay so Mary's literally giving birth in the Next Room whilst Henry's outside seducing her sister likely scenario childbirth was an exclusively female process and there's no way that Henry and Anne would have been conducting this is it is it not going to happen right outside whilst Mary is giving birth and also the likelihood is that Mary's affair with Henry VII had come to an end before he even showed an interest in Anne so that's unlikely also I vow I will never lie with my wife nor speak to your sister again you should just tell my baby but when I would speak to her again oh my God this is shocking and Mary doesn't have a boy well she does but not at this point um we do know that Mary billion did have a son but it's unlikely to have been Henry's as well they did possibly have a daughter together although unacknowledged a son you've just got a son and you're only interested in handling so on Henry like of course Mary but it wouldn't actually have been at Anne's execution but never mind and it's also May they're wrapped up like it's winter and we're only spared because of my respect and affection for you Mary had actually been banished from Court a couple of years before because she'd married William Stafford a man inferior to her in Social Status without Henry and Anne's consent and Anne had sort of reconciled with her but not to the extent that Mary would have been able to intercede with the King on Anne's behalf that just wouldn't have happened I can hardly watch this this is so bad and wasn't falling apart in this way pull yourself together woman okay I mean she does pass her headdress to a woman I think so that bits right [Music] [Music] I don't think how women were crying in the background either because as far as I know the women didn't really like her oh for God's sake she was no way as emotional as this this is really cringe okay sword that is accurate but it didn't play out like that oh all the accounts that we have of amberlynn's execution report that she was extremely dignified and very composed she wasn't this emotional wreck as she's shown in this scene I'm afraid to say this is probably the worst example of Anne's execution I've ever seen so it gets a one out of ten from me somebody costumes are quite good in this film I have to say I have to say Joseph finds does it quite fit and darker mysterious you can see why he was nicknamed the Gypsy here from his skin tone even though this isn't actually Robert Dudley will you dance and she did like love Ulta she liked to dance all her life actually so that's an accurate reflection I like this they are kind of dancing as they would have done at the time and he is kind of giving her the come hither eyes Elizabeth was really fond of dancing we know that she loved dancing all of her life even into old age and here in this scene she can be seen dancing love alter which was a very popular dance of the time but Elizabeth was very fond of because I am nothing to them and everything to you and he wouldn't be publicly declaring his love for her like this I love you I have always loved you I was afraid of losing you because I was not afraid for God's sake you are still my Elizabeth that's a big mistake that's something you only say to someone in private I have no man's Elizabeth so they're arguing over the fact that Elizabeth just discovered that Robert Dudley is married however that's totally wrong because Robert Dudley had been married Years Ago by this point and it wasn't a secret it was a massive Court wedding that had been paid for by Edward VI so Elizabeth knew all about it she knew all about the fact that he had a wife she didn't want to be the other woman mind you but she did know all about Amy robstart Dudley's wife so there's no way that this sort of commotion and storm would have happened in public in that way the backdrop's very good as well deflect reflects how rich the fabric of the Court would have been six out of ten because I think the costumes are great I like the dancing I like Joseph fines however the argument is a big No-No this is the scene at Tilbury in 1588 as Elizabeth was kind of rallying and encouraging her troops when they were faced with the threat of the Armada so there's the troops they all look quite good all decked out in their armor I mean she's looking pretty good for a woman in her 50s at this point I have to say why is she wearing a full set of armor there is no way that Elizabeth was wearing a full suit of armor like this we know she wasn't we know that she was wearing a breastplate and a white dress so why they've got her wearing full suit of eyeliner I've got no idea we see the sails of the enemy approaching yeah the Spanish Guns Over the Water I don't think I can watch any chance can we turn this off the speech is all wrong change the speech it's the most iconic speech of Elizabeth's reign and why have they crimped her Pony's name [Applause] I mean this is typical isn't it when Hollywood meets history Hollywood always wins the speech delivered by Elizabeth at Tilbury her troops is completely wrong I've got no idea why and for some reason they take out the most iconic line which is I know I have the body but over weak and feeble woman but I have the heart and stomach of a king and a king of England too I mean how iconic is that everyone knows that everyone Associates that with Elizabeth but they don't put it in I don't know why so that's a big mistake I think and for some reason they've over dramatized it with basically a load of rubbish instead so for that reason I'm gonna give this scene a three out of ten foreign do you think it might stand with my honor to marry my sister's subject it is true that an Earl is not a prince surely there can be no greater honor than to match yourself even stressed in Black which is quite weird I regardless of who I marry or do not marry what I don't understand is why they've got Mary speaking in a Scottish accent she wouldn't have been speaking in a Scottish accent yeah her attitude in this is kind of antagonistic whereas in reality she was trying to get Elizabeth to be friendly towards her so the whole kind of demeanor is wrong and also it's really annoying that they've got Mary Queen of Scots speaking in a Scottish accent because she didn't have a Scottish accent we don't think and let's not forget she'd spent a lot of her life living in France so she probably had a French accent rather than a Scots one we hope we do not Vex there not in the least madam appreciate your honesty we see why our cousin is so fun yeah she's trying to convince Elizabeth's ambassadors that she should be named as Elizabeth [Music] I just don't get why it's also dark I don't get why they're all dressed in black because there would have been no reason for them to be there dressed in black and also there's no way that Mary was as aggressive towards Elizabeth at this time we know that she did want to be Elizabeth air but she wanted to become Queen of England after Elizabeth's death not before woman now but now certain has made me so but I have no enmity with you there's Elizabeth there's Mary in the same room why do they keep doing this why do they always have to meet they didn't me they didn't me was this I had this maybe because I wanted to present she's got the wig oh okay she's taking the wig off oh come on she's not gonna do that that's showing Mary her weakness your gifts are your downfall this really plays on Elizabeth's insecurities as well um but what I will say is that I think that the two actresses were pretty good at the roles that they were cast to play you have nothing to fear a fate rests in your own hands if I seek to help your enemies it is only because you pushed me to their arms oh okay so if I pull out against you then it's your fault as if she would have said that to Elizabeth's face and you murder your queen there's a huge massive issue with this scene which is the fundamental problem that it shows a meeting between Elizabeth and Mary but one that never happened what I will say is that a meeting was planned between the two queens in 1562 but it never happened for various reasons and we know that Mary was really upset about this but there's just no way that Mary would have been talking about Elizabeth having her murdered at this point um and I don't think she'd have had the insolence to speak to Elizabeth in that way in any case because as I said she wanted to court her friendship she wasn't thinking about dying and plotting against her all of that comes much later so for this scene it's going to be brutal I'm afraid it's going to be a two out of 10. writer of players that capture my heart oh I am him too oh no I mean I guess it's not inconceivable is it that suitors would have hung around outside their beloved windows in the dark [Music] okay lovely lovely shot of the Interiors that's quite accurate [Laughter] I love that shot [Music] everything okay Shakespeare back at his desk feeling inspired they're using a quill that's good using the candles that's good they are making an effort with the 16th century handwriting also impressive when we see Shakespeare writing I think that that probably is quite an accurate depiction because you see him sharpening his quill which they would have done see him with writer's cramp which I imagine that he would have got and working under Candlelight I imagine he did have flurries like that as well where he was feeling particularly inspired so wanted to scribble everything down before he forgot so I think that that's probably quite an accurate portrayal of Shakespeare at work the doors of breath sealed with a righteous kiss a dateless bargain to engrossing death oh okay so that's great they've got the audience which as they would have been in real life close to the stage slight problem with the fact that women weren't really allowed on the stage okay and they've got people in the galleries watching the play so that's all good that would have happened what Shakespearean love does really well is its portrayal of the theater and they did really use Shakespeare's Globe Theater which in reality opened in 1599 so the decision to film that I think was a really good one and I think that they get the they capture the essence and the atmosphere of the Elizabethan theater really really well so the stage the crowd and the poorer people would have paid a penny to stand and watch the play or the performance and the wealthier people would have been lining the galleries around the theater to watch and the big Pitfall unfortunately is the fact that women weren't allowed to act on the stage at the theater and you can even see in that short clip that they had men dressed as women because of this so unfortunately that's just what lets it down slightly is the appearance of viola on the stage because quite clearly she's not a man the thing that we have to say about Shakespearean love is that it is completely fictional so I think that they can get away with a lot more here because they're not trying to depict facts so I think what it does do is create quite a good backdrop to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and it does get a good sense of the romance between Shakespeare and Viola or Romeo and Juliet completely ignores the fact that in real life Shakespeare was married but hey who cares Shakespeare in Love In some ways I feel like I'm being a bit unfair on the other films because I don't know this one is just pure fiction however I think it has to have a 7 out of 10 for drama alone foreign

Channel: History Hit

Views: 568,891

Keywords: movie review, historical accuracy, expert review, historical movies, elizabeth i, expert reviews, mary queen of scots, the tudors, history movies, how real is it, henry viii, henry viii and anne boleyn, the other boleyn girl, elizabeth movie, elizabeth the golden age, mary queen of scots movie, shakespeare in love, cate blanchett, natalie portman, scarlett johansson, margot robbie, saoirse ronan, joseph fiennes, nicola tallis, history hit, movies rated, historic movie

Id: CvLzNvQUzLY

Length: 17min 45sec (1065 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 14 2022

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Dr Nicola Tallis, British historian and author of three books on the Tudors, rates scenes from five blockbuster movies set in the Tudor period.

Nicola reviews scenes on Henry VIII's relationship with Mary and Anne Boleyn in 'The Other Boleyn Girl' (2008). She looks at the portrayal of Elizabeth I in the hit movie 'Elizabeth' (1998) and its sequel 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age' (2007), both starring Cate Blanchett.

Next, she looks at the fictionalised meeting between Elizabeth I and her cousin Mary in the recently released 'Mary Queen of Scots' (2018), where the lead characters were played by Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie.

Finally, she reviews several iconic scenes from 'Shakespeare in Love' (1998), starring Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow.

So, do you agree with her ratings?