The story of sisters Anne and Mary Boleyn (Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson) is a tragedy of epic proportions. It is one that tears apart husband and wife, brother and sister, and father and child. It is one that takes the lives of many and leaves the lives of many others in ruin. But the saddest part of The Other Boleyn Girl is that it never had to be that way. And the hardest part is watching as it all unfolds.

You see, in the world of Anne and Mary Boleyn, family status is everything. If one member of the family can climb the ranks of position and power, the rest of the family will be brought up along his or her side. And with two daughters in his hand and that very reality in his mind, it is almost as if Thomas Boleyn (Mark Rylance) sees it as sin to reach for anything less than the greatest power he can imagine.

And so begins the Boleyn family’s tragic entanglement with the throne of England, the King at its head, and the brutal reality that when the only power we seek is one bestowed by man, it can also be stolen right back with no more than the selfish rhyme and reason with which it was given.

If today’s romantic entanglements are a game, then the story that unfolds between King Henry (Eric Bana), Anne Boleyn, and Mary Boleyn might as well be American Gladiator. From the beginning, it is all about power—who has it, who wants it, and what must be done to get more of it. And although Mary pleads to simply live a normal life with the man she loves, and Lady Boleyn cautions that to think of ambition as a virtue instead of a sin is pure foolishness, with Anne and Thomas at the helm, the games begin.

At first Anne is sent to the plate. When she stumbles, Mary steps in. Although Mary does so reluctantly, in her hands a connection with the King is forged and the family’s power begins to grow. When the family fears the King’s allegiance to Mary may be tested, Anne is brought back off the bench to keep him distracted from any non-Boleyn women who might seek to take their place. But as only becomes clearer with time, when the pursuit of power becomes our life’s ambition, sharing it with others is just not an option when you can have it all to yourself. And although that truth is at the forefront of every one of Anne’s actions from the moment she returns to the royal palace, the tragic reality that she and her family fail to fully grasp is that she is not the only one who thinks that way.

Although the King has more power than anyone around him, when it comes down to it, sharing his power with anyone else is not really his thing either. From the beginning of the movie, the importance of producing a male heir emphasizes his desire to keep his power all within his own grasp. He reveals his willingness to use his position however he pleases by essentially commanding a married woman to be his mistress and cheating on his wife without a second thought. Although Anne’s fiery spirit initially drives the King away, it is later what draws him back. But he does not come back because he actually respects the power he sees in her. Instead, he only returns because he must have it for himself. Once he has done what he must to take it, the harsh reality Anne and her family face is that rather than gaining power for themselves, they have surrendered almost all of it to the King. And so, when all they have left raises even smallest challenge to his position over them, the King barely bats an eye as he deals one final blow to the Boleyn sisters and their family and claims their last shreds of power for his very own.

Continue: 1 2