Firebrand Definition

1: a person who is passionate about a particular cause, typically inciting change and taking radical action “a political firebrand”

I’ve seen a lot of movies and television shows about England and its various members of the royal family throughout history. There have been various depictions of many of the kings, queens, princesses, and princes through the years. The latest film about the monarchy of Great Britain is Firebrand. Depicting the marriage of Queen Kathrine Parr (Alicia Vikander, and King Henry VIII (Jude Law). I’ve seen other stories of the monarchy done much better.

In the era of Tudor England Kathrine was the 6th wife of King Henry VIII. He left for war in France and made her Queen Regent of England while he was away. He has been known to kill some of his various wives in many brutal ways. He seemed to be happy with his current wife as he allowed her the liberty to study various religions and write about them. A Bishop and some men in the King’s court who have some motivations of their own, discourage his ongoing marriage and love for Queen Kathrine Parr.

Firebrand is based on the novel by Elizabeth Fremantle and adapted by Henrieta and Jessica Ashworth. They added all the treachery and intrigue and paranoia that was going on at this time. There wasn’t an information superhighway like we have today so things took longer to permeate and travel around. Sometimes things don’t go the way you’d think. These royals can be a bit jealous and threatened by people in these times. Which is why Henry VIII is onto his 6th wife. 

The film is narrated by Princess Elizabeth (Julia Rees) who we all know turns out to be Queen at one point. Her future is documented prominently in multiple films over the years. This is her stepmother’s story though and Alicia Vikander is doing an interesting thing with this role. She plays the character a bit understated which is a little different than other characters she’s played in her career. She tends to be a sweeter character actor and in this, she has an ulterior motive and is a bit secretive about what she’s doing. She has to balance her secret motivations with her duty as the wife of the king and mother of his children. It’s not an easy line to balance for her.

Jude Law is one of the best character actors Hollywood has produced in the last twenty-five or so years. He has done it all in his career. He worked with a who’s who of great directors from Martin Scorses to Steven Spielberg and many others. Karim Ainouz, the director of this movie, doesn’t give him a flattering role. Specifically, he has a leg injury he got while in France. It is a lingering injury that curses him. This is just the tip of the iceberg for this character. He is mean and ornery and treats his wife as just a means to create another heir. Specifically, he wants a son. Law embraces this nastiness of the character of Henry VIII. One of the most notorious royals throughout history by word of mouth and texts written about him.

There is a good supporting cast that plays key roles in this story and film. Eddie Marsan and Sam Riley play brothers whose sister was executed brutally by the King earlier, they have a vested interest in what’s happening with the current marriage between Henry VIII and Kathrine Parr. A nasty Bishop Stephon Gardiner (Simon Russell Beale) has his own reasons for why the marriage of these two royals should end. Religious reasons.  Anne Askew (Erin Doherty) is a lively religious dissenter with her own views of religion and the church of England specifically.  She is public Enemy number one as far as the Church of England is concerned. The supporting cast as a whole does a good job of accentuating the two leads of this story.

Firebrand is another historical film about the royals throughout history. The story of Henry VIII has been documented in various forms throughout history. This movie isn’t very flattering towards him. Law played the role as such, which is vastly different for him in his career. Vikander also plays a different type of character for her as well. She tends to look beautiful and uses her beauty as a tool in her bag during her career to play characters. She is much more understated here than in other roles. The director Ainouz didn’t show the glamorous side of these royals like so many directors have in the past. He wanted the Religious strife to be a key in the story instead of glamorous clothes, lavish lifestyles, and an abundance of food and posh living. This was a rough time in the history of Great Britain. 

3 stars

Dan Skip Allen