Firebrand
These days, you can’t throw a rock without hitting a Tudor period drama. So the question then becomes, how do we make a film about the reign of Henry VIII without simply retreading the exact beats that others have done before? Firebrand represents a valiant effort to reframe the story, shifting the attention from the famous Tudor king to his sixth and final wife, Katherine Parr. It features an incredibly strong cast that is unfortunately let down by a weak script, one that creates a gaping void at its heart where a more interesting interpretation of Katherine Parr should exist.
Katherine Parr (Alicia Vikander) may be the queen of England, but she’s nonetheless in a precarious position. She’s saddled with an ailing husband (Jude Law) whose ill health makes him even more temperamental and mercurial than usual, forcing her to walk on eggshells knowing that a step out of line could prove her downfall. And she’s taking more than a few steps out of line, as she tentatively wields political power while Henry is on campaign in France and attempts to support the marginalized Protestant movement in England. (To say nothing of her unconsummated romance with Thomas Seymour, the uncle of her young nephew Edward, played by Sam Riley.) When Henry returns to court, she’s caught in a balancing act between supporting the causes she believes in, and her very survival.
It’s hard to find something new when playing Henry VIII, and Jude Law comes close. His Henry is an ill-tempered, insecure figure, a powerful king who has gone to seed and is plagued by festering sores on his legs that keep him in constant pain. From a physical perspective, Firebrand focuses less on the massive frame he became famous for in his later years, and more on his debilitating chronic illness that was its partial cause. This weakness plays a huge role in his psychology, especially as Law plays him. How can he appear strong and virile to his people – or even just to his wife – when his body is failing him so profoundly?
But although his performance is strong – if a little over the top at times – he’s really just a supporting character in Firebrand. The film belongs to Katherine Parr, and that is, unfortunately, where it’s let down the most. Vikander is a talented actress, but even she struggles to bring to life such a weak characterization of Henry’s final wife. There are hints of romantic, political, and religious aspirations within her, but she’s written in such a flat way that it feels as though the script rather than the Tudor court is responsible for her lack of agency. And when she does get the opportunity to take action, it’s with the most extreme, impulsive choices that are, to be honest, a little bit insulting to the actual Katherine Parr.
Normally, when we see reimaginings of female historical characters, they’re more nuanced and compelling than what we see in the male-dominated historical record. But Firebrand represents a rare case where the woman on paper is infinitely more fascinating than what we see on screen – the real Katherine Parr was a dynamo whose political savvy not only helped her survive Henry VIII, but also swing a second marriage with the man she vastly preferred. Focusing on the Tudor period through the lens of Parr is probably the right choice if one wants to bring a fresh perspective to the well-trod territory – Firebrand simply doesn’t execute it particularly well. It feels almost as though they had the idea to turn a Tudor queen into a modern woman, and then accidentally made her less modern than she actually was.
Between its muddled intentions and perplexing interpretations of well-known historical figures, Firebrand has little to recommend it as a Tudor period drama. Its talented cast are wasted on a strangely muted script that tamps down on anything interesting before it has a chance to flourish. Katherine Parr deserved better then, when she was stuck married to a brute 21 years her senior and clearly in precipitous decline, and she deserves better now.
Directed by Karim Aïnouz
Starring Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, Sam Riley
Runtime 121 min
Language English