Divorced. Beheaded. Died. Divorced. Beheaded. Survived.
The girls of Six have really made it easy (and catchy) to remember the fates of the wives of Henry VIII, and that comes in handy here as Alicia Vikander plays… one of them. now if i tell you, it’ll ruin it, because you’lll have the song stuck in your head. At least you know there are only four options. She’ll either get a divorce, die, get beheaded, or… survive?
While Firebrand has a supporting cast, they just can’t match the performances of Vikander, or Jude Law as Henry the VIII. And, the audio description here, it has so much to play with. The costumes have such rich description for the period, the sex is in your face, but what I found most compelling was the description of Henry’s legs that seem to be slowly getting eaten alive by something we were unable to cure in his time period. Every time anyone has to clean the sores on his legs it feels like a singularly harrowing experience.
Vikander is an actress who should be getting much more from Hollywood. I don’t know why she isn’t being propelled to the A-list anymore, but she proves herself again here, as a woman who is aware that her chances of survival are dwindling. Her King husband has the marital attention span of Nick Canon. But, Jude Law is fabulous. He’s a perfectly nasty Henry, and he can be quiet in one moment, and then immediately fly off the handle in the next.
If you can catch this little indie somewhere with audio description, and like these period films, Firebrand was certainly entertaining. Now, they just need to turn Six into a movie.
Final Grade: A-