Wolf Hall: Anna Regina
April 22, 2015 12:57 PM - Season 1, Episode 3 - Subscribe

With the cardinal dead, it falls to Cromwell to orchestrate a marriage between the king and Anne Boleyn. The king rewards Cromwell for his loyalty, but he is being closely watched by his enemies.
posted by ocherdraco (4 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
There were some very powerful visual moments in this episode. Among them: Cromwell caressing Anne Boleyn's clavicle*, and his friend the barrister using a candle to find out what it might feel like to burn.

Also, it's fun to compare and contrast Anton Lesser as Thomas More with Anton Lesser as Qyburn in Game of Thrones.

*Was this moment intended to show what was actually happening, or his imagination? I assume it was his imagination, because when the camera cut away from the caress, he seemed to be standing too far away to reach her in quite that way (and also, I can't imagine her letting him), but I wasn't certain.
posted by ocherdraco at 1:02 PM on April 22, 2015


Also, it's fun to compare and contrast Anton Lesser as Thomas More with Anton Lesser as Qyburn in Game of Thrones.

Yeah, it makes watching them back to back even more entertaining.
posted by homunculus at 1:39 PM on April 22, 2015


The clavicle-touching was in Cromwell's imagination but was presented so nicely we were shocked at first. The Renaissance lover in the room yelled out, "the there's no way he would do that!" before we cut to the shot of Cromwell too far to touch Anne.

I'm really enjoying this show; the direction and storytelling are so deft and intelligent. I can see why it's not hitting tons of folks the way the more obvious and spoon-feeding Downton Abbey did, but I love the feel and mood and pacing. It's a different kind of treat that assumes the audience has brains.
posted by mediareport at 6:09 AM on April 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


These are good enough that my Mantel-noob husband (admittedly a leisure reader or Moby-Dick and Ulysses) is psyched to take them on.

Cromwell seems more enthralled with Anne than I remember him being in the books. And obviously it's hard to capture the memory palaces on TV. I'm so excited for Mr. Chesty to read these.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:58 PM on April 25, 2015


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