Wolf Hall on Masterpiece: Episode One (2015) Movie Review

Review by co-editor Carl Eastvold

MOVIE REVIEW

Masterpiece's 

Wolf Hall

Starring:  

Mark Ryland - as Thomas Cromwell

Damien Lewis - as King Henry VIII

Claire Foye - as Anne Boleyn

Director:  Peter Kosminsky
Genre: TV mini-series/ Historical Fiction

Setting:  Tudor England (1500's)

Length:  60-65 minutes per episode

Rating:  ☆☆☆1/2

Last night I watched the first segment of the six part BBC mini-series, "Wolf Hall." As is to be expected from the BBC, the set and costumes are flawless - at least to my unsophisticated eyes.

The story itself is something different. Dark and brooding, the flashbacks, and forward leaps in the narrative, make getting a grasp of the characters a little rigorous at first. A cursory grasp of the history of the Tudor era would be helpful in deciphering this account. The website (click above) also has mini bios on the main characters, which is helpful.

The screen play is based on the novels written by Hilary Mantel, and certainly presents an alternative Thomas Cromwell to the one I'm familiar with from the history books. Cromwell in history is often regarded as a loathsome tool of Henry VIII as Henry's madness progressed. Here is he portrayed as an insightful man of depth, as well as a propagator of Protestantism and of Tyndale's new English testament.


This drama makes you forget what you thought you knew and curious concerning Cromwell's continuing journey.