Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Helllins It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) I am sure most readers here have already heard of the character of "Anna Boleyn" and this film here is early German filmmaker Ernst Lubitsch's take on her story. This is a silent black-and-white film and was made before Lubitsch's (and Kräly's" breakthrough in Hollywood. Unfortunately, I was not too impressed watching this one. In the current DVD version, it runs for a couple seconds under 2 hours, which is really long and painful to watch almost, especially for a silent film. Apart from that, the film needed definitely a lot more intertitles. I personally thought from a visual perspective this was a decent film, but the lack of color of course hurts in the way we perceive the pompous sets, art direction and costumes. All in all, I personally definitely enjoy Lubitsch's comedies when it comes to his earlier works and not even the presence of Emil Jannings could make this one worth watching for me. I do not recommend it. Thumbs down

heliotropetwo Nothing dull about this movie, which is held together by fully realized characters with some depth to them. Even the hooded torturers have body language. Jannings' performance is brilliant, all will, want and need. A Henry VIII as he must have been. Henny Porten is, maybe, nobler and purer than Anne Boleyn, but she plays the part as written: A victim caught in the jaws of a big (huge) baby.Sparkuhl's cinematography is gorgeous in the restoration, the tints sensuous. Lubitsch lets these characters breathe and reveal their corruption down to the tiniest of meannesses. He takes his time, which can try the patience of an audience accustomed to being carried away by action, but the time is worth spending. Slow your heartbeat and watch this minor miracle of German silent film.

manuel-pestalozzi I must admit that I fell asleep while watching this movie. It is simply too long. People who are interested in Ernst Lubitsch's work before he went to Hollywood might find it interesting, though. As a matter of fact, it is a well directed movie. Maybe there are no classical Lubitsch touches to be found. Nonetheless, I found the way the story was presented original and engrossing. There are many superbly choreographed mass scenes on stage sets as well as in outdoor settings.There can be no doubt that the makers of Anna Boleyn wanted to accomplish an artistic achievement. The set design and especially the wardrobe are fantastic. The people responsible for that must have made a thorough study of period paintings. I had the impression that many poses of the actors were also derived from Renaissance painting. Lubitsch's task might have been to lighten the whole thing up, and I could not say he did a bad job. My favorite scene is a kind of a summer entertainment for the king. On a large meadow a group of people play something like badminton, but they are evenly distributed over the whole area, and the balls fly in all directions. It happens what must happen, Anne Boleyn's ball lands at the feet of the king who already had an eye on her and seizes a racket to challenge her. The next ball lands in a grotesquely artificial copse with high weeds into which both the king and Anna plunge, together with the court jester.An interesting detail: the movie has on several occasions shots of people with different aspect ratios from the other shots. The aim seems to be to highlight certain bodies or poses by framing them. This intensifies the reference to classical artwork but also irritates when there are quick cuts between a special focus and a more general aspects.

psteier The story is hard to follow unless you are quite familiar with the history of Henry VIII's reign. The picture seems more interested in spectacle than story telling. Wonderful costumes.I wasn't impressed with Jannings. His Henry was mostly interested in eating, drinking, hunting and women.