"Lady Jane"
Lady Jane (1985)
HELENA BONHAM CARTER, the beautiful young actress who plays the title role in ''Lady Jane,'' has a physical presence that's quite startling. First seen in the flat, constricting costumes of the Reformation, she stands in a crabbed, gnomish posture, her head bowed and her wide-set features contorted by a scowl. But later on, as the character's early sternness disappears, Miss Bonham literally and figuratively lets her hair down. She appears by firelight, on horseback and in various bucolic settings, romping with the handsome blond nobleman she loves. One begins to have the uncomfortable suspicion that this could have been a role for Brooke Shields.
Actually, for the most part ''Lady Jane'' is a handsome, dignified British costume drama of the sort that has long been out of fashion, with a distinguished director (Trevor Nunn, of the Royal Shakespeare Company) and a very fine cast. It is at its best when most traditional, in the long expository sections that help provide historical background for the story. Lady Jane Grey, the 15-year-old great-niece of Henry VIII, was brought to the throne in 1553 by the scheming John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who also arranged Lady Jane's marriage to his 17-year-old son, Lord Guilford. This plot, devised as Edward VI, Henry's 15-year-old son, was dying of consumption, was designed to guarantee a Protestant monarchy and keep Edward's Roman Catholic half sister, Mary, from the throne. Mary's popular support proved greater than Northumberland had imagined, though, and she ascended the throne as Mary I only nine days after Lady Jane's rule had begun. Lady Jane and her husband were imprisoned and executed the following year.
The palace intrigue that paves the way for these machinations is compellingly rendered, at least for a while. ''Lady Jane,'' which opens today at Loew's Tower East and other theaters, can count among its blessings John Wood as the Duke of Northumberland, Sara Kestelman and Patrick Stewart as the parents who quite literally beat Jane into submission, Jane Lapotaire as the formidable Mary Tudor, Jill Bennett as Jane's sinister lady-in-waiting and Warren Saire as her ailing cousin. Thanks to these excellent actors, an exposition that might seem overly complicated is rendered crystal clear.
And if Mr. Nunn's direction is less daring here than it was in ''Nicholas Nickleby'' on the stage (David Edgar, who adapted ''Nicholas Nickleby,'' also wrote this screenplay), it certainly has sufficient pomp and extravagance to suit the story. Hounds, mead and castles abound, as well as fancy costumes; in one scene, Edward's entire hunting party appears in white fur and gold embroidery. Mr. Nunn is also careful not to take this decorativeness too seriously, as in the banquet scene in which Lady Jane's mother, contemplating the plot to reshape her daughter's future, is seen gnawing pensively on a large chop.
Once Cary Elwes appears as Guilford, though, the film takes a substantially wrong turn. Mr. Guilford is a credible actor who, through no fault of his own, has the kind of robust, healthy good looks that seem much too modern for the material. Far from being a directorial lapse, this anachronism seems to be exactly what Mr. Nunn has in mind. The latter part of the film is painfully contemporary, with Jane and Guilford's love affair echoing ''Romeo and Juliet'' - Franco Zeffirelli's, not Shakespeare's. Initially quite hostile to one another, and forced into marriage, they quickly become perfect lovers and begin declaring their determination - pretty naive, under the circumstances - to reform England's social injustices and aid the poor. The audience's sympathies will not be heightened by the spectacle of Guilford and Jane smashing the Venetian goblets they got as wedding gifts to confirm each new resolution, or by Jane's way of giggling as she makes each vow.
At the very least, ''Lady Jane'' ought to summon more emotion than it does. But the early part of it is so reserved, and the latter part so incongruously fulsome, that it never manages to draw any deep response - not even when a beheading costs the hapless young Jane her luxuriant, Brooke Shields-like hair.
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Lady Jane Grey was a cousin of King Edward VI. Just before his death, he named her his successor. She was proclaimed Queen of England on 10 July 1553, but reigned for only nine days before she was ousted by Edward's elder half-sister Mary I.
People
Lady Jane (Helena Bonham Carter) is sitting around reading Plato while everyone else goes out hunting. Her parents, the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk, return, and are vile. But she befriends the teenaged King Edward VI, who swans in wearing a massive fur and velvet hat brimming with ostrich feathers and a sprig of gumball-sized pearls "en tremblant". It's only the first of a succession of far out get-ups: according to the this movie, Tudor kings dressed like Liberace, and everyone else wandered around in costumes left over from David Lynch's deranged 1984 sci-fi epic Dune. Fortunately, at no point does Sting turn up wearing nothing but some body oil and a posing pouch – though the horrible Duchess of Suffolk is totally channelling the Bene Gesserit. If you are part of the 0.001% of the population that has seen both Lady Jane and Dune, that joke's for you.
Family
The scheming Duke of Northumberland wants Jane to marry his youngest son, Guilford Dudley (Cary Elwes). "He's a quiet, studious boy," says Northumberland. "I imagine even now, in fact, among his books, or else at prayer." Cut to Guilford staggering around a pub, howling "More wine!" before passing out on a nearby prostitute. Amazingly, Jane doesn't want to marry him. So the Duchess of Suffolk drags her off to a gallery and flogs her unconscious with a birch. Though not particularly graphic this scene is still, well, a bit weird. But it is based on historical sources, though some say it was her father who beat her until she agreed to marry. Either way: grim. In the film, she is reluctant because she has the hots for the king. In real life, she considered herself betrothed to another Edward – Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford.
Marriage
Guilford is monosyllabic at the wedding, sinking flagon after flagon of mead and making kissy faces at nearby wenches. Afterwards, Jane is ushered into his chamber to submit to a consummation, but finds her husband passed out on the bed. In fact, according to the recollections of the Spanish ambassador, many of those at the party (including Guilford himself) came down with a hideous bout of food poisoning after the cook "plucked one leaf for another". So, in real life, Guilford probably spent his wedding night in the privy.
Politics
Guilford and Jane retreat to a country estate where, to Jane's horror, they observe some poor people. Out of the blue, Guilford launches into a rant about the social damage caused by the dissolution of the monasteries: "I want a world where men are not branded or sent into slavery because they can't grow the food they need to eat!" Jane glows with desire. Historically, not only is there no evidence that Lady Jane had a thing for sanctimonious toffs who moan on about how much life sucks for poor people while biffing around in massive castles swigging fine wine from Venetian goblets, there's very little evidence that Lady Jane had a thing for Guilford Dudley. The two did not spend the months after their marriage rolling around in sunny meadows, discovering a shared love of land redistribution. Jane was obliged to live with Guilford's parents, and became convinced they were trying to murder her.
Treason
It's a shame the film has made Jane and Guilford such a couple of prigs, because you should be really upset when it comes to the whole beheading thing. The execution scene is recreated with impressive accuracy, then spoiled by bungling Jane's last words. In the film, she whimpers: "Guilford!" In real life, she said loudly and with great dignity: "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit."
Verdict
Lady Jane Grey's short, poignant life deserves better than this simpering romance.
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