Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived. This English nursery rhyme, synonymous with Henry VIII’s rule and the fate of his six wives, has undoubtedly been ingrained in many a child’s memory. And while there have been numerous big- and small-screen takes on the infamous Tudor dynasty, it’s less common for the spotlight to fall on the fascinating lives of his fateful wives.
Enter director Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand, an adaptation of Elizabeth Fremantle’s novel Queen’s Gambit, a feminist take on this tumultuous and bloody slice of British history. Yet, despite the promise of a film which plays in the sandbox of Tudor history — à la the musical Six — this political drama is a disappointing and muddled take.
“History tells us a few things, mostly about men and war,” the opening titles inform us. “For the rest of humanity, we must draw our own, often wild,...
Enter director Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand, an adaptation of Elizabeth Fremantle’s novel Queen’s Gambit, a feminist take on this tumultuous and bloody slice of British history. Yet, despite the promise of a film which plays in the sandbox of Tudor history — à la the musical Six — this political drama is a disappointing and muddled take.
“History tells us a few things, mostly about men and war,” the opening titles inform us. “For the rest of humanity, we must draw our own, often wild,...
- 9/9/2024
- by Nicola Austin
- Empire - Movies
Karim Ainouz’s first English language film Firebrand plays out like a foggy memory. Though that has little to do with the liberties it takes in warping historical facts as it sees fit. Firebrand essentially reshapes the content of Elizabeth Fremantle’s Queen’s Gambit to give the story of The Queen Who Survived a more contemporary grit and a bold air of defiance. Calling it a biopic would certainly be a bit of a stretch.
Spoiler Alert
What happens in the film?
Fremantle’s book covers a bigger stretch of Queen Katherine Parr’s life than Firebrand explores. So you might feel a little lost, especially if you’re coming into it without any prior knowledge of what life was like for Tudor king Henry VIII’s sixth wife before she married the abusive monarch whose gangrenous legs were inching to death. Katherine was married and widowed twice before...
Spoiler Alert
What happens in the film?
Fremantle’s book covers a bigger stretch of Queen Katherine Parr’s life than Firebrand explores. So you might feel a little lost, especially if you’re coming into it without any prior knowledge of what life was like for Tudor king Henry VIII’s sixth wife before she married the abusive monarch whose gangrenous legs were inching to death. Katherine was married and widowed twice before...
- 7/7/2024
- by Lopamudra Mukherjee
- DMT
Alicia Vikander and Jude Law in Firebrand Image: Roadside Attractions The physicality of the relationship between King Henry VIII (Jude Law) and his sixth and final wife Catherine Parr (Alicia Vikander) is strongly present throughout director Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand. This is a couple that’s always sparring, whether when having sex or fighting.
- 6/14/2024
- by Murtada Elfadl
- avclub.com
Alicia Vikander and Jude Law in FirebrandImage: Roadside Attractions
The physicality of the relationship between King Henry VIII (Jude Law) and his sixth and final wife Catherine Parr (Alicia Vikander) is strongly present throughout director Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand. This is a couple that’s always sparring, whether when having sex or fighting.
The physicality of the relationship between King Henry VIII (Jude Law) and his sixth and final wife Catherine Parr (Alicia Vikander) is strongly present throughout director Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand. This is a couple that’s always sparring, whether when having sex or fighting.
- 6/14/2024
- by Murtada Elfadl
- avclub.com
by Chad Kennerk
Jude Law as Henry VIII and Alicia Vikander as Katherine Parr.
Photo credit: Larry Horricks. All images courtesy of Roadside Attractions
Based on Elizabeth Fremantle’s 2012 novel Queen’s Gambit, Firebrand follows the story of Katherine Parr, the sixth (and ultimately last) wife of Tudor dynasty monarch King Henry VIII. During the film’s development, director Karim Aïnouz and writers Henrietta and Jessica Ashworth honed the story down to focus on a period four years into Henry’s final marriage. Queen Katherine has been named regent while Henry fights overseas. When the increasingly ailing and paranoid King returns, he turns his fury on the realm’s religious radicals, charging Katherine’s childhood friend with treason. Katherine soon finds herself fighting for her own survival in an increasingly oppressive palace. On the hope of a hereafter free from the tyranny that has defined blood-soaked Tudor England, Katherine uses...
Jude Law as Henry VIII and Alicia Vikander as Katherine Parr.
Photo credit: Larry Horricks. All images courtesy of Roadside Attractions
Based on Elizabeth Fremantle’s 2012 novel Queen’s Gambit, Firebrand follows the story of Katherine Parr, the sixth (and ultimately last) wife of Tudor dynasty monarch King Henry VIII. During the film’s development, director Karim Aïnouz and writers Henrietta and Jessica Ashworth honed the story down to focus on a period four years into Henry’s final marriage. Queen Katherine has been named regent while Henry fights overseas. When the increasingly ailing and paranoid King returns, he turns his fury on the realm’s religious radicals, charging Katherine’s childhood friend with treason. Katherine soon finds herself fighting for her own survival in an increasingly oppressive palace. On the hope of a hereafter free from the tyranny that has defined blood-soaked Tudor England, Katherine uses...
- 6/14/2024
- by Chad Kennerk
- Film Review Daily
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like Jennifer Lopez will be touring this summer after all. And while that’s certainly a crime against Pride Month if not humanity itself, it at least frees up some extra time–and money–to watch some movies. And while 2024 looks to be a rather tepid year for blockbusters, there are still plenty of Don’t-Miss Indies out there ready to crawl into your eyes and ears.
Someday We’LL Tell Each Other Everything
When You Can Watch: June 7
Where You Can Watch: Theaters
Director: Emily Atef
Cast: Marlene Burow, Felix Kramer, Cedric Eich
Why We’re Excited: After directing multiple episodes of the hit BBC America series Killing Eve, filmmaker Emily Atef returns to the big screen with a May-December romance, set in the muggy summer of 1990 in the East German countryside of Thuringia just after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Based on Daniela Krien’s 2011 novel,...
Someday We’LL Tell Each Other Everything
When You Can Watch: June 7
Where You Can Watch: Theaters
Director: Emily Atef
Cast: Marlene Burow, Felix Kramer, Cedric Eich
Why We’re Excited: After directing multiple episodes of the hit BBC America series Killing Eve, filmmaker Emily Atef returns to the big screen with a May-December romance, set in the muggy summer of 1990 in the East German countryside of Thuringia just after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Based on Daniela Krien’s 2011 novel,...
- 6/6/2024
- by Su Fang Tham
- Film Independent News & More
Jude Law and Alicia Vikander star as real-life King Henry VIII and his sixth wife, Katherine Parr, in Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand trailer.
The film, based on true 16th-century events, follows Parr’s pursuit of survival in her marriage to the king, after the first five of his wives met untimely ends — divorced, beheaded, died, divorced and beheaded again.
“Katherine’s fate was to change the kingdom, forever,” the trailer’s narrator muses.
“When Henry appoints [Katherine] as Regent, the nation’s ruler during his absence when he departs to fight overseas, he lays a dangerous path for her,” the Firebrand synopsis reads. “Henry’s courtiers, suspecting she’s sympathetic to radical Protestant beliefs that have taken root in the kingdom and are a threat to their power, scheme against her and cast doubts upon her fidelity to the increasingly ailing and paranoid King.”
When the king returns, his courtiers convince...
The film, based on true 16th-century events, follows Parr’s pursuit of survival in her marriage to the king, after the first five of his wives met untimely ends — divorced, beheaded, died, divorced and beheaded again.
“Katherine’s fate was to change the kingdom, forever,” the trailer’s narrator muses.
“When Henry appoints [Katherine] as Regent, the nation’s ruler during his absence when he departs to fight overseas, he lays a dangerous path for her,” the Firebrand synopsis reads. “Henry’s courtiers, suspecting she’s sympathetic to radical Protestant beliefs that have taken root in the kingdom and are a threat to their power, scheme against her and cast doubts upon her fidelity to the increasingly ailing and paranoid King.”
When the king returns, his courtiers convince...
- 5/8/2024
- by Zoe G Phillips
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Do you believe in Hell? I think we're both bound for it." Roadside Attractions has revealed the first official trailer for Firebrand, the latest from Brazilian filmmaker Karim Aïnouz. This first premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival last year, which is why they're debuting the trailer now just before Cannes 2024 kicks off soon. In a rotten, blood soaked island kingdom, there once was a queen by the name of Katherine Parr. The sixth wife of the vengeful King Henry VIII - and the only one to survive. This true story is about Queen Katherine Parr & Henry VIII's marriage. Adapted from the novel "Queen's Gambit" by Elizabeth Fremantle. With the hope for a future free of tyranny at risk, will Katherine submit to the inevitable for the sake of King and country? Alicia Vikander stars as Katherine Parr, Jude Law as Henry VIII, plus Eddie Marsan, Amr Waked, Sam Riley, Ruby Bentall,...
- 5/8/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Roadside Attractions and Vertical have acquired the U.S. rights to the historical thriller “Firebrand,” which will open in theaters on June 21. Based on the historical novel “Queen’s Gambit” by Elizabeth Fremantle, the film stars Alicia Vikander and Jude Law and is directed by Karim Aïnouz.
“Firebrand” follows “legendary Queen of England, Katherine Parr, and her quest to survive the perilous last months in the life of her ailing and abusive husband, Henry VIII,” per the release. The cast also includes Eddie Marsan, Sam Riley, Simon Russell Beale and Erin Doherty. Gabrielle Tana and Carolyn Marks Blackwood produce the film, which played competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
“I could not be more excited to be bringing ‘Firebrand’ to the screen and telling the story of Katherine Parr — a ferociously brilliant, enlightened, and emancipated woman who I am deeply inspired by — a woman who has been largely disregarded,...
“Firebrand” follows “legendary Queen of England, Katherine Parr, and her quest to survive the perilous last months in the life of her ailing and abusive husband, Henry VIII,” per the release. The cast also includes Eddie Marsan, Sam Riley, Simon Russell Beale and Erin Doherty. Gabrielle Tana and Carolyn Marks Blackwood produce the film, which played competition at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
“I could not be more excited to be bringing ‘Firebrand’ to the screen and telling the story of Katherine Parr — a ferociously brilliant, enlightened, and emancipated woman who I am deeply inspired by — a woman who has been largely disregarded,...
- 12/18/2023
- by Caroline Brew
- Variety Film + TV
Roadside Attractions and Vertical have acquired U.S. rights to Firebrand, a historical thriller starring Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina) and Jude Law (The Talented Mr. Ripley) that world premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. The film directed by Karim Aïnouz (Invisible Life) is slated for an exclusive theatrical release on June 21, 2024, when it will go up against Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders and an as-yet-undisclosed title from Universal.
Based on the bestselling historical novel Queen’s Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle, the film follows legendary Queen of England, Katherine Parr (Vikander), and her quest to survive the perilous last months in the life of her ailing and abusive husband, Henry VIII (Law). Eddie Marsan (21 Grams), Sam Riley (Control), Simon Russell Beale (The Death of Stalin) and Erin Doherty (The Crown) co-star.
It’s in blood-soaked Tudor England that the twice married, accomplished and educated Parr reluctantly agrees to become the...
Based on the bestselling historical novel Queen’s Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle, the film follows legendary Queen of England, Katherine Parr (Vikander), and her quest to survive the perilous last months in the life of her ailing and abusive husband, Henry VIII (Law). Eddie Marsan (21 Grams), Sam Riley (Control), Simon Russell Beale (The Death of Stalin) and Erin Doherty (The Crown) co-star.
It’s in blood-soaked Tudor England that the twice married, accomplished and educated Parr reluctantly agrees to become the...
- 12/18/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Theatrical release set for June 21, 2024.
Roadside Attractions and Vertical have acquired US rights to Karim Aïnouz’s Cannes selection Firebrand starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law.
‘Firebrand’: Cannes Review
The historical thriller premiered in Cannes Competition and is based on Elizabeth Fremantle’s 2012 historical novel Queen’s Gambit.
Vikander stars as Katherine Parr, an independent woman with radical friends who attempts to survive as the sixth wife of the notorious Henry VIII during the ailing and abusive monarch’s final months.
The cast includes Eddie Marsan, Sam Riley, Simon Russell Beale and Erin Doherty. Henrietta Ashworth and Jessica Ashworth...
Roadside Attractions and Vertical have acquired US rights to Karim Aïnouz’s Cannes selection Firebrand starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law.
‘Firebrand’: Cannes Review
The historical thriller premiered in Cannes Competition and is based on Elizabeth Fremantle’s 2012 historical novel Queen’s Gambit.
Vikander stars as Katherine Parr, an independent woman with radical friends who attempts to survive as the sixth wife of the notorious Henry VIII during the ailing and abusive monarch’s final months.
The cast includes Eddie Marsan, Sam Riley, Simon Russell Beale and Erin Doherty. Henrietta Ashworth and Jessica Ashworth...
- 12/18/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Tudor, or not Tudor. That is the question in “Firebrand,” a revisionist royal portrait of Henry VIII’s last wife, Katherine Parr (played here by Alicia Vikander), that features all the pageantry you’d expect from a lavish costume drama, while showing the a historical audacity to call “Time’s Up” on the gluttonous king (Jude Law). Never mind that Henry VIII died — of very different causes than the movie depicts — all of 476 years ago. When it comes to art, there’s no statute of limitations on taking toxic masculinity to task, which can be both encouraging (since history has excused no shortage of monsters) and frustrating.
There’s a big difference between exposing the truth and rewriting what came before to suit a contemporary political agenda, the way “Firebrand” does. Liberally adapted from Elizabeth Fremantle’s fast-and-loose historical fiction “The Queen’s Gambit,” director Karim Aïnouz’s tony yet dull...
There’s a big difference between exposing the truth and rewriting what came before to suit a contemporary political agenda, the way “Firebrand” does. Liberally adapted from Elizabeth Fremantle’s fast-and-loose historical fiction “The Queen’s Gambit,” director Karim Aïnouz’s tony yet dull...
- 5/21/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
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