The 1933 hit film The Private Life of Henry VIII was, inevitably, structured around the infamous king’s six wives. But wife number six, Katherine Parr, only got a minute or so of screen time at the very end, as the comedy schoolmarm who tamed the king in his old age. She deserved better.
Parr was probably the cleverest, certainly the most scholarly, maybe the most appealing of all six wives – and outliving her murderous husband was quite an achievement. In fact, six months before he died, Henry was (researchers think) briefly persuaded to get rid of her – a crisis she adroitly managed to talk her way out of. I’ve been thinking for years that story deserves to be told on screen.
Now it has been – sort of. Firebrand is based on a 2013 novel by Elizabeth Fremantle (the first of her “Tudor trilogy”) and directed in dank, menacing tones by Karim Aïnouz. It comes achingly close to being a terrific retelling of the story. There are some missed opportunities and some weird decisions, which is OK. But then, in the last 20 minutes, the whole thing self-destructs.
