Henry Viii VIII (Viii): Last News

Will Tizard Contributor From indoor ice skating feats to Russell Crowe rocking the crowd, the 57th edition of the Karlovy Vary Film Festival has launched with all its unconventional charisma intact. Audiences who had to weather a downpour clearly showed no signs of dampened spirits as they cheered the fest’s opening gala dancers on ice skates, then rose to their feet to applaud guests Crowe and Alicia Vikander, both of whom accepted honors for their robust range of film work. Vikander, in accepting the award of fest president Jiri Bartoska, said she was moved to be celebrated in the Czech Republic, where her international career first took off with the 2012 shoot of “A Royal Affair.”

Self-seriousness is a common trait in the world of European cinema, but the opening night of the 57thKarlovy Vary International Film Festival was a wholly playful affair, starting with the most unexpected sight of a troupe of acrobatic ice-skating showgirls spinning and whirling through fake snow and dry ice. MC Marek Eben followed in a similarly feelgood vein, with a dryly witty monologue that touched on current affairs in the Czech Republic and the wider world without getting too heavily into the politics. A “surprise” appearance by festival stalwart Jiří Bartoška, whose attendance was initially in doubt, occasioned the first standing ovation of the night.

Strictly Come Dancing alumni Kevin Clifton is to take "a break from all performing work" to spend time being a dad. The 40 year old pro, who welcomed baby Minnie in January with TV presenter partner Stacey Dooley, said he “didn’t want to miss” seeing the little one grow up. Kevin and Stacey found love as they won Strictly as dance partners in 2018 thanks to their sizzling chemistry.

Strictly Come Dancing star Kevin Clifton found love when he was partnered with celebrity champion Stacey Dooley for the BBC show. He has recently taken part in Who Do You Think You Are?, jumping at the chance after he welcomed his first child with Stacey, but before he met the TV star Kevin was married three other times. Fans of Strictly may remember that Kevin was previously married to fellow professional dancer Karen Hauer and before this had been married twice before.

Everything did not come up smelling like roses for Jude Law‘s latest role.

 like roses for Jude Law's latest role. The two-time Oscar nominee is set to star as King Henry VIII in Karim Aïnouz's opposite Alicia Vikander, who will portray Catherine Parr, the last of Henry's six wives. To physically portray Henry in his final years, Law sought the help of a perfumer to give himself a realistic — and seemingly awful — scent as the ailing king. «I read several interesting accounts that — at this period — you could smell Henry three rooms away because his leg was rotting so badly and he hid it with rose oil,” Law said during a press conference at the Cannes Film Festival on MondayI just thought it would have a great impact if I smelt awful.»As a result, a perfumer created a custom concoction to fit the bill.

Jeremy Strong's commitment to playing Kendall Roy on Succession has led to repeated debates about the merit behind the practice and the toll it can take on an actor's health. Brian Cox has been a frequent critic of the method, claiming it led to Daniel Day-Lewis burning out but many of the very best throughout Hollywood's history have used the technique. The modern method approach to acting is generally credited with being popularised by Marlon Brando who requested to have a bucket of ice water thrown over him during his first Broadway play to make him look like he had actually been thrown in an icy lake.

Jude Law and Alicia Vikander step out for the photo call in support of their new movie Firebrand during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Jude Law and Alicia Vikander step out for the photo call in support of their new movie Firebrand during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival.

Firebrand,” a historical drama that follows the marriage of the king and Queen Catherine Parr, his sixth and final wife — played by Alicia Vikander.In order to get into the role, the actor had a repulsive perfume blended from “blood, fecal matter and sweat” specially made to wear while shooting the movie.“I read several interesting accounts that you could smell Henry three rooms away. His leg was rotting so badly.

Brent Lang Executive Editor When his agent first suggested that Karim Aïnouz direct an adaptation of Elizabeth Fremantle’s “Queen’s Gambit,” a historical novel about Katherine Parr, the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII, he thought she was joking. The Brazilian director of “The Invisible Life of Eurídice Gusmão” wasn’t a natural choice to bring 16th century England to life on screen. For one thing, Aïnouz didn’t really know anything about the oft-married monarch. “I could barely identify who Henry VIII was, and I’m not into the monarchy,” he says on the eve of the Cannes premiere of “Firebrand,” the movie he made from Fremantle’s book. “I’m not into British history. I was very puzzled.”

Jude Law wore a horrifying concoction of scents, a pungent blend of “blood, fecal matter and sweat,” to play Henry VIII in “Firebrand,” a historical drama about the final days of the king and his sixth and last wife Katherine Parr. “I read several interesting accounts that you could smell Henry three rooms away. His leg was rotting so badly. He hid it with rose oil,” Law said at Monday’s Cannes Film Festival press conference for “Firebrand,” which debuted at the Palais a day prior. “I thought it would have a great impact if I smelt awful.” So, he went to perfume specialist to create a custom, revolting blend of smells. “She makes wonderful scents, and she also makes awful scents. She somehow came up with this extraordinary variety of blood, fecal matter and sweat.”

So, Jude Law, when do you really think of the British monarchy after playing one of the worst kings in history, the wife slaying, Henry VIII, in Firebrand?

Gigi Hadid and Irina Shayk had heads turning at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival this weekend!

Most movies about England’s King Henry VIII like to focus on the mercurial monarch’s failed marriages. His six wives have been collectively described as divorced, died, beheaded, divorced, beheaded, survived. That last one, the little talked-about Katherine Parr, had the distinction of outlasting Henry — their marriage was about four years as he started to succumb to the result of hard living. She was there during that time, but also a wife who if she weren’t so connected to the King easily could have qualified as a feminist. She not only was the first English woman to have a book published, was privately a radical Protestant in an England that had been staunchly Catholic, but also a sharply intelligent woman who had a head on her shoulders and was determined to keep it there.

Alicia Vikander was greeted with an eight-minute standing ovation at the May 21 Cannes premiere of Brazilian director Karim Aïnouz’s “Firebrand,” from a crowd that included best actress Oscar winners Michelle Yeoh and Marion Cotillard.With her husband Michael Fassbender beaming on from the row behind, Vikander motioned for the cheering audience to stop or she would cry. But then she gave into the adulation and blew kisses to the upper balconies Vikander’s co-star Jude Law and Aïnouz also got huge applause. Vikander joins a group of Cannes leading ladies including Lily Gladstone, Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore who have turned in show-stopping performances.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic 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 ahistorical 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 this movie does. Liberally adapted from Elizabeth Fremantle’s fast-and-loose historical fiction “The Queen’s Gambit,” director Karim Aïnouz’s tony British production needn’t try hard to demonstrate that Henry was a notoriously bad husband.

It’s a solemn command from Firebrand’s first assistant director Lydia Currie: “When you bow to the king, bow straight down,” she announces. “Don’t look at him; you’ll get your head cut off.” The fearsome monarch Currie is referring to is Henry VIII, and on this particular day, Jude Law’s king is in an ax-swinging mood. The background artists on Karim Aïnouz’s set comply to orders and stare down at their toes. Before them, seated on thrones arranged on a raised plinth, is the potentate in question, and Katherine Parr, his queen.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International In Britain, schoolchildren learning about Tudor history are taught a handy rhyme to remember the order of King Henry VIII’s six wives: “Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived.” Hollywood has for decades been transfixed by the “beheaded” and “died” bits — essentially, the stories about women suffering — but what moviegoers are rarely reminded of is the wife who outlived Henry. In Karim Aïnouz’s hotly anticipated “Firebrand,” it’s the notorious Tudor king’s final companion, Katherine Parr, who finally takes center stage. “What’s mostly been dramatized are the wives who didn’t make it,” says Swedish star Alicia Vikander, who plays the surviving queen opposite Jude Law’s ailing monarch. “[When I read the script] I immediately thought, ‘Huh, isn’t it interesting that most people know more about the other wives.’ It’s almost like people are drawn to quite grim stories.”

Cannes Film Festival isn’t just a hub of red carpet premieres, champagne-drenched parties, and stars, stars, stars. It’s also a vibrant locus of dealmaking, with studio executives, agents and filmmakers descending on the Riviera to secure financing for their upcoming projects or to find a distributor for their latest movies. The 2023 edition is playing host to several compelling packages and potential awards contenders that could spark heated bidding wars. Here are 11 films that could leave buyers reaching for the espresso instead of the rosé as they engage in all-night battles to land the next big thing. Cast: Sean Penn, Tye Sheridan, Katherine Waterston, Michael Pitt, Mike TysonDirector: Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire Agency: CAA, WMEWhy Buyers Care: Penn and Sheridan have crackling chemistry as disgruntled mentor and doe-eyed mentee in the edge-of-your-seat thriller, which takes audiences into the often harrowing, always intense reality for paramedics in New York City. A gentle warning, though, that “Black Flies” isn’t for the squeamish. Expect plenty of blood, disturbing and graphic injuries, extreme violence…and a lot of yelling.

King Charles and Queen Consort Camilla have spent the night before their historic Coronation with an intimate dinner at their much-loved Clarence House. The royal couple chose to stay at their favoured London base - rather than monarchy HQ Buckingham Palace - as they prepared for the momentous occasion on Saturday.