Watch Lady Jane For Free

Too much of everything

Good concept, poorly executed.

A brilliant film that helped define a genre

The acting in this movie is really good.

Trevor Nunn directed this true historical account of the circumstances that led to the succession of the royal throne of England in the 16th century. Helena Bonham Carter plays 15-year old Lady Jane Grey, who is pushed into the throne by royal ministers after the death of King Henry the VIII. His son Edward is dying, and the reform-minded ministers do not want the Princess Mary as queen, because she is catholic, and Jane is protestant. Jane is forced to marry Guilford Dudley(played by Cary Elwes) to be Queen, but they do eventually fall in love, and decide to institute further reforms, which alarms the ministers, and seals their fates, as Princess Mary is leading her forces to usurp Jane... Fine cast and production in this handsomely mounted and interesting film. Certain historical facts may have been tweaked, and it is a bit long, but overall it works, with a moving ending.

Lady Jane Grey, the "Nine Days' Wonder", is a controversial figure in English history, one of a small group of English "monarchs" whose right to that title is accepted by some historians and denied by others. (Others include Queen Matilda, King Louis and King Philip, the husband of Jane's nemesis Queen Mary I). To some, mostly Protestants, she is Queen Jane, the rightful Queen of England for the nine days between 10th and 19th July 1553. To others, mostly Catholics, Mary was rightfully Queen from the death of her half-brother Edward VI and Jane a mere usurper.Legally, in fact, the position was complicated. Mary, like her sister Elizabeth, had been declared a bastard by their father Henry VIII. Towards the end of his life, however, Henry had passed the Third Succession Act, which restored his daughters to the line of succession without formally legitimising them. Edward, as he lay dying, had executed a will excluding Mary and Elizabeth from the succession and naming his cousin Jane as his successor, although, because this will had not yet been ratified by Parliament at the time of his death, Mary's supporters argued that it carried less weight than Henry's Act. Jane was proclaimed Queen by the Privy Council, who then promptly abandoned her when they realised that Mary enjoyed more popular support and that attempts to prevent her accession were doomed to failure. "Lady Jane" was the third British film about Jane's life after a silent version from the 1920s and "Tudor Rose" from 1936, neither of which I have seen. It was made in 1986, during the "Thatcher Years", to a script by the well-known left-wing playwright David Edgar, so it is perhaps unsurprising that it is essentially Tudor history rewritten to suit the Guardian-reading classes of the 1980s. It is a curious mixture of costume drama and political tract, of fact and fiction. It follows the essential outlines of Lady Jane's story but contains two major divergences from historical fact. The first of these concerns the relationship between Jane and her husband Lord Guilford Dudley. At first Edgar paints them as they are portrayed in most history books- Jane as intellectually precocious, scholarly and devoutly religious, Guilford as a debauched young man more interested in frequenting taverns and whorehouses than in reading Plato. Both are initially reluctant to marry and have to be coerced by their parents, who see the match as politically and financially advantageous. In the film, however, Jane and Guilford quickly fall deeply in love, although the historical evidence suggests that they disliked one another intensely throughout their marriage. Edgar's second major divergence from history is his attempt to introduce twentieth-century politics into the period. During their brief reign Jane and Guilford are so shocked by the poverty of their subjects that they introduce a reformist political agenda- distribution of land among the peasantry, state-funded relief of poverty, universal free education based upon progressive principles and the abolition of corporal punishment. At times I thought I was watching an alternate history fantasy about how England, under the enlightened rule of Queen Jane the Good, became the world's first socialist welfare state nearly four centuries before such ideas caught on in the rest of the world. In the film it is this reformist agenda, as much as any popular support for Mary, which causes Jane's Council to abandon her cause, her Councillors all being wealthy Establishment figures with much to lose from such socio-economic reforms. Also, Mary's determination to marry Philip of Spain was due more to political considerations than to romantic love, and Thomas Wyatt's rebellion did not aim to restore Jane to the throne. (By 1554 England's Protestants had turned to Elizabeth as their champion). And yet, despite Edgar's tendentious distortion of history, this was a film which I enjoyed in many ways. The love story of Jane and Guilford, however ahistorical it might be, was touchingly handled. Helena Bonham Carter, in her second major film role, was not as good as she had been in "A Room with a View" the previous year, making Jane perhaps rather too priggish. Cary Elwes, however, is good, playing as Guilford as that familiar figure from coming-of-age dramas, the truculent, rebellious teenager who matures into a sensitive, caring young man when he finds true love. Jane Lapotaire is also good as Queen Mary, making her more sympathetic than one would expect given her popular reputation as the tyrannical "Bloody Mary". It is a far more subtle portrayal of the Queen than Kathy Burke's demented fishwife in "Elizabeth". Other good performances come from Patrick Stewart and Sara Kestelman as Jane's overbearing parents, John Wood as her devious, scheming father-in-law the Duke of Northumberland, Warren Saire as the tormented King Edward and Michael Hordern as Doctor Feckenham, the elderly Catholic theologian who vainly tries to convert Jane to his faith. (Despite Edgar's modernising agenda, he does not try to hide the religious controversies of the period, with Jane's fervent Protestantism and Mary's equally fervent Catholicism much to the fore). The film was directed by Trevor Nunn, best-known as a stage and television director. It is one of only three feature films he has made, the others being adaptations of Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" and Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night". Yet on the basis of this film and "Twelfth Night" (I have never seen "Hedda") it seems a pity that he has not worked more in the cinema. Here he handles his material well, the story moves fluently and there are a number of memorable scenes. I was particularly struck by the one where Jane and Guilford announce their wishes for the country, with each wish smashing a wine-glass with the exclamation "Then it is done!" Even though it might tell us more about the 1980s than the 1550s, "Lady Jane" is still a very watchable historical romance-drama. 7/10

Trevor Nunn may be a great theatre director but he cannot make movies. Just why he decided to make this turkey, I cannot imagine. Given that the actual true story of Lady Jane Grey is a fascinating example of political intrigue in Tudor England, it is all the more inexplicable that Nunn opts for a Woman's Own version of the tale complete with syrupy music that lurches in style from faux 16th century to 1980s muzak.Historical accuracy goes out the window and suddenly the 15 year old Jane and her slightly older husband Guildford Dudley are transformed into young lovers cast in the 'Romeo & Juliet' mould. The pace is leaden, and at almost 2 and a half hours, the film is overly long. Beautiful photography and many historic locations aside, the best ingredient is the wonderful supporting cast drawn from some of the finest acting talent in the British Isles.Of course (as can be judged from most of the comments here) the Americans loved it and perhaps it was made for the US market? The recent, equally risible TV series THE TUDORS was made for America too - given that English history is not a strong point across the pond.It was a failure on release and Nunn has not made a major film since.Thank goodness!

Although this is lacking perhaps in historical accuracy it gives a fair documentation of Lady Jane Grey's life. If it essentially a love story of two ill-fated lovers caught up in the politics of Tudor England. Lady Jane (Bonham-Carter) is forced to marry Guildford Dudley (Elwes) as part of the Duke of Northumberland's plans to keep England protestant and make his son king. The two dislike each other immediately and wish to have nothing to do with each other. However, they slowly fall in love and find themselves kindred spirits. All too soon history catches them up and they are arrested and sentenced to death. Bonham Carter and Elwes are well cast as the young couple although occasionally it becomes a little over-sentimental. Queen Mary comes out well as a spinster reluctant to put her cousin to death but driven to it through her own wish for happiness. This is an enjoyable film to watch with a good cast but if you want facts I would suggest a documentary will better suit you.