The King (2019)- BFI London Film Festival 2019

Review

140min

Genre:       Fact-based, Drama, War

Director:    David Michôd

Cast:         Timothée Chalamet , Joel Edgerton, Sean Harris…and more

Writers:     Abe Forsythe and Joel Edgerton

-Synopsis-

In 15th century England, a reluctant young heir to the throne becomes the monarch when his tyrannical father dies, leaving him to navigate the precarious politics of court while dealing with the morbid realities of war, conquest and the lust for power, on his way to becoming a celebrated warrior king and English cultural icon—in David Michôd and Joel Edgerton’s gritty and personal retelling of the medieval story of king Henry V of England.

Hollywood has a long history of taking artistic license when it comes to depicting history and its figures, particularly with Europe and Middle East, a trend which has most recently produced female-led character study revisionism in films like ‘Mary Shelley’, ‘Mary Queen of Scots’, and ‘Mary Magdalene’—an interesting name pattern for great historical women—painting reflective and sombre cinematic portraits of lofty figures, while occasionally squeezing them through the filter of contemporary culture and societal norms . . . with varying degrees of success.

Now armed with Netflix cash and inspired by timeless themes of conflict, the lust for power and its corruptive nature, Aussie writer/director David Michôd reunites with star, co-writer and fully-fledged filmmaker Joel Edgerton to take a sober look beneath the crown of warrior king and English legend king Henry V. Opting for Shakespeare’s plays over established history as a blueprint for an origin story portrait of a reluctant king, shaped and moved by the bleak human nature and corrosive politics of court around him, which would come to shape the history of Europe.

Timothée Chalamet stars as ‘Hal’ the rebellious young crown prince of early 1400s England, rejecting the ruthless rule of his despotic ailing father Henry IV (Ben Mendelsohn), shirking responsibility with a decadent life alongside his willing confidant, hard-drinking overweight knight ‘Sir John Falstaff’ (Joel Edgerton). But when the king dies and the prince reluctantly takes the crown as Henry V, alongside senior crown advisor and Machiavellian magistrate William Gascoigne (Sean Harris), his restraint and decency are put to the test by dissent at court and growing tensions with the king of France and his flamboyant son The Dauphin (Robert Pattinson)—as the horns of war begin to sound and the paranoid young king turns to an old friend for the only council he can trust, facing the horror of war and the call of conquest on his way to becoming the stuff of legend.

The release of ‘The King’ marks the second year in a row that Netflix flexes its filmmaking muscle and underlines its range by delving into Britain’s regal history of war and conquest, after last year’s Robert the Bruce biopic ‘Outlaw King’. But in keeping with its indie studio ethos, it’s also the second ‘sword & shield’ epic to sidestep excessive triumphalism and nationalistic tendency—indeed here actively commenting on its folly—remaining solidly underpinned by a reflective human drama and a rather melancholy character study with bleak undertones.

‘The King’ is the third major feature film adaptation of Shakespeare’s seminal work, and it sticks closer to Kenneth Branagh’s more sombre 1989 version than Laurence Olivier’s patriotic, stylised and often comedic 1944 effort, while incorporating several elements of ‘Henry IV’ (parts I & II) to form an origin story, ultimately ending where The Bard Of Avon’s ‘Henry V’ really begins and unfolds—the events immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt (1415). And yet Michôd and Edgerton opt to mix up the narrative by shaking up the cast of characters, often downgrading Shakespeare’s fictionalised ones and pushing more historical figures to the front, but taking plenty of artistic license with them all . . . not to mention the history of the Hundred Years’ War.

As David Mackenzie largely did with his own portrait of a medieval icon with last year’s ‘Outlaw King’, Michôd forsakes nationalism and the ‘glory of conquest’ for a more sombre meditation on the brutality of war and the corruptive nature of kingdom and power, peeking behind the velvet curtain of court to reveal the many cultivated faces of monarchy and the paradox of kingship, taking liberties with the facts along the way—and as such ‘The King’ is a historical epic designed to reflect the time in which it’s made.

The result is a slightly dour tone and a narrative which occasionally proves too pensive and contemplative for its own good. It lacks the vibrancy, and dare we say it Hollywood flair of something comparable like ‘Braveheart’, featuring little of the lyricism and high drama of the ‘Henry’ plays, while retaining only a sliver of the comedic elements from Shakespeare’s work by overhauling Falstaff—but there is an argument that these particular plays in their traditional form don’t translate well to the sensibilities of modern drama . . . at least in a straight adaptation.

That’s not to say that Michôd has skimped on style and spectacle here, quite the opposite, delivering the production designs to elegantly recreate 15th century northern Europe while cinematographer Adam Arkapaw follows up his stunning work on another Aussie-directed Shakespeare adaptation ‘Macbeth’, by capturing all the vivid visuals with muted melancholy tones, all leading up to a definitive moment in the short reign of Henry V and the apex of the film— the Battle of Agincourt—here depicted more brutally and viscerally than ever. The film’s mood is further set and its energy galvanised by an often foreboding and occasionally rousing score from Nicholas Britell (The Big Short, Moonlight), further adding to the young American composer’s already impressive reputation.

For all its mood, style, and climactic spectacle, at its heart this is still a contemplative character piece, and it’s propped up by solid performances all around from a largely Anglo-Australian cast, with the versatile and accomplished Joel Edgerton turning in a wistful and occasionally amusingly blunt Falstaff, while the always excellent and intense Sean Harris shines as the personification of the manipulative politician. Despite his relatively brief appearance, Robert Pattinson also makes a curious, scene-eating impact as the rather farcical and sadistic French prince. But as the title suggests, at its heart ‘The King’ revolves around one man, and a young American one at that, as Chalamet nails enough of a subtle accent to convince as an English king, underpinned by yet another impressive performance from a young actor whose choices and dedication truly merit his rising star.

The Bottom Line…

Part sombre historical epic, part contemplative character study and portrait of power, ‘The King’ may occasionally prove too moody  for its own good—but propped up by strong performances, well-crafted spectacle, and plenty to say about kingship and conflict, it makes for a worthy Shakespeare adaptation and an unstylised companion piece to the actual history of a near mythological English hero.

‘The King’ is out now in selected UK cinemas, and is available on the 1st of November on Netflix.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Outlaw King (2018)

Reeling from personal tragedy and the oppression of 14th century English occupation, nobleman Robert the Bruce seizes his destiny as king of the Scots and begins a daring guerilla campaign to take his country back . . . one castle at a time—in this biographical drama about the real ‘Braveheart’, from the director of ‘Young Adam’ and ‘Hallam Foe’.

Directed by David Mackenzie and starring Chris Pine, Florence Pugh and Stephen Dillanez among others.

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