Highly watchable

TV review: The Tudors

MANILA, Philippines - It has become quite popular that I am not surprised to find any of the three seasons of The Tudors airing in the local channels. As of this moment, Season Two of the blockbuster series is on HBO while Season One is on etc. These are reruns. The Tudors, which is about the reign of Henry VIII, has already aired several times since it made its debut three years ago.

The current airings though are quite special because these are in preparation for the arrival of the Season Four finale. We will now get to find out how Henry VIII’s story ends. Okay we know how it ends. You get that from the history books. However, I have not found any book whose version is as exciting as The Tudors or encountered a Henry VIII as sexy as Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

I first saw Henry VIII in my catechism book. The drawing showed the King, a portly man with a thin mustache and a jeweled beret with his family and courtiers. He was in the book because he was the best historical figure to illustrate the chapter about the impediments to marriage.

There are a lot of things that can be told on film about Henry but admit it, the most interesting bits about him were his marriages. It was in 1520 when Henry tried to get dispensation from the Pope to divorce his wife, the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon. He cited as reasons that she was previously married to his brother and she was unable to give him a male heir. Both were not acceptable to the Church. Anyway, the truth was he only wanted to get rid of Catherine and marry Anne Boleyn.

When he failed to get his divorce after many attempts, Henry, to whom the Pope gave the title of Defender of the Faith, broke away from the Catholic Church and established the Church of England with himself as head. Such was how much he desired Boleyn. Henry made sure that his church allows divorce and at last freed of his marriage vows, he married Ann in 1533.

As everybody knows, he would have her beheaded on charges of incest and adultery only three years later. That is why she is referred to as Anne of a Thousand Days. Of course, Henry soon took another wife and another and another, etc., after he had disposed or lost them in assorted ways.

 The history of England is an interesting subject. It is a soap opera that has been running continuously for hundreds of years. You can remain engrossed for hours just tracing the family tree of the royals and get all goggled eyed over the wars, the killings, the sex romps, the plagues and all the shame and scandal. Remember the love triangle of Prince Charles, Princess Diana and Camilla Parker-Bowles. So it is no wonder that producers have from time to time chosen to put on the screen some of its most fascinating periods.

This is not the first film about Henry VIII. I recall some documentaries like The Wives of Henry VIII, wonderful films like A Man for All Seasons and others. But nothing like this. The Tudors is no history lesson. The series is a sleek, commercial show with class and melodrama ingredients in the tradition of Desperate Housewives or Dirty Sexy Money.

Basically, it is about a powerful husband with the wandering eye, his wives and other women. It is also a battle between good and evil delineated in stark black or white. Catherine of Aragon, good and prayerful. Sir Thomas More, sainted and principled. Cardinal Wolsey, ambitious, two-timing manipulator. Ann Boleyn, succulent wench and petulant schemer. And Henry VIII, perpetually torn between his religion, his responsibility to his kingdom and earthy appetites.

The first season of the TV series concentrated on Henry’s obsession to get rid of Catherine and marry Anne plus his mistresses. The second season went into the execution of Henry’s beloved adviser Sir Thomas More and Anne’s trial. By the third one Anne had been beheaded and Henry was into wives number three, four and five. I am quite sure there will be more in season four.

To be fair, we do get glimpses of the truly important aspects of Henry’s reign, like founding the Church of England making or unmaking alliances with Spain or France, his falling out with the Holy Roman Empire, his empty treasury and other matters of governance. These, however, are all treated merely as peripherals. Viewers of the series are not complaining. Henry’s sex life is the juicy part of this story.

The production design is absolutely gorgeous. The sets are storybook pretty. Forget that castles of that time were dank and gloomy with no proper plumbing. The clothes are beautiful and the jewelry, amazing. Forget too that those satins and velvets must have really reeked with odor because people of that time seldom took a bath. They probably had bad breath and bad teeth, too. But why think of those or of what they used for deodorants or toilets while watching The Tudors? More so when the assemblage of extraordinarily good-looking actors are on the screen?

Just like what we learned in history class, Henry here is played by Rhys Meyers as a man who wants to perpetuate a legacy that would be extolled by future generations. He is almost fanatical in his devotion to his faith and ever in search of ways to justify his sins to assuage his conscience. There is enough meat in this character for an actor to sink his teeth into.

But because The Tudors is made for cable TV, this Henry is presented as buffed, pouty and lusty and given to playing games with his entourage of young nobles. Rhys Meyers is a real looker and has enough idol appeal, August Rush and acting chops, Velvet Goldmine. He also does not look one bit like Henry VIII. But I have to admit that the way he plays it makes for better viewing.

Memorable performances do lift The Tudors out of the sensationalized mold of the mini series. Well-cast are Sam Neil as Cardinal Wolsey and Jeremy Northam as Sir Thomas More. Obviously written as a two-dimensional figure, Catherine gets a lift from Maria Doyle Kennedy, who conveys so much with the barest of gestures. As for Natalie Dormer as Boleyn, she is so beautiful she makes it look easy for Henry to be so besotted.

The Tudors is extremely watchable. The dialogue is witty and the pacing brisk. Every episode is a cliffhanger. But be warned, it has taken more liberties with history than Disney ever did with its animated fairy tales. But that is also what makes it more fun and what will make you go back to your books.

Okay, let us see what happens when you check these out. Did Henry’s sister really murder the King of Portugal? Was his daughter Mary Tudor also Mary Queen of Scots? Did he have children with Anne’s sister Mary? What happened to Henry Fitzroy? Etc., etc.

I hope that HBO airs Season Four soon. We already know what happened to Anne, to More and other characters but this series is exciting drama and I can’t wait to see the coming episodes.

Come to think of it. There was really no reason to put an end to The Tudors. The producers could have simply continued on to the Princes in the Tower, to Elizabeth, Victoria and Albert, Princess Margaret, Charles and Diana, etc. and hogged the ratings.