Many a book, television series and film has been made about the tumultuous and intriguing life of English King Henry VIII, and the number of his wives who tragically and famously lost lives or their heads to the guillotine circa 1540s England. So most would agree that a film with a feminist lens focusing on the life and experience of his last wife, Katherine Parr – his only queen who was able to outlive him, would be quite the interesting tale. This is when Firebrand comes in, from director Karim Aïnouz, with an interesting perspective on history.
Firebrand premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival earlier in May, opening to a muddled consensus and mixed reviews amongst critics. It stars Alicia Vikander as a stubborn, spitfire, modern girl power-esque Katherine Parr herself, alongside Jude Law as the bumbling, revolting and hateful King Henry VIII.
We follow Katherine as she continuously defies her misogynist husband at every turn, and although this makes for entertaining cinema and storytelling, the historical accuracy of many of these events is certainly questionable. History, in fact, is an element that the film blatantly disregards whenever it likes — pregnancies are fabricated, important historical allegiances are ignored, and the explanation and reasoning for why things happened how they happened back then are cherry picked to fit the film’s preference.
The film is easy on the senses with lovely cinematography from Hélène Louvart (Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Beach Rats) and tonally fitting music by composer Dickon Hinchliffe (The Lost Daughter, Winter’s Bone). The costume design is another standout as the lavish period gowns, headdresses and attire are a wonder to look at, making the world feel more authentic thanks to Michael O’Conner, the film’s talented costume designer.
The performances by Vikander and Law are electric, and they truly do put their all into these characters. But there unfortunately is a disconnect with a multitude of very vital elements throughout, so that ultimately not even the best factors of the film can completely salvage it.
Firebrand drags its feet, stumbling around the decision to either retell the historical events as we know it, fill in the blanks from what is missing out of the history books, leaving it up for interpretation, or completely turning the film into an ultra modern feminist “you go girl” flick – which is fun, but only if executed correctly and fully. Just as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies could not just ‘sort of’ commit to the zombie bit, this film had source material to choose to pull from and be married to, or swing for the fences and work in a modern twist.
Either could’ve worked better than the end result, but because of the meandering screenplay and noncommittal direction, there’s a sense of messiness and confusion that comes across. And this is unfortunately the lasting impression that doesn’t go away after the credits roll.
The film though isn’t completely and totally defective. The elements that do work, work, and there are many components that are done well, which are a welcome treat amongst the foggy story. It’s an entertaining watch, and as King VIII perishes on screen in a completely new and different way than the history books tell, and it’s hard not to be surprised by the pure fantasy of the scene. Making one wonder if this would’ve been a drastically better film if Firebrand would’ve just fully committed to its “zombies”.
