The King (2019)

November 4, 2019 7:26 PM

Hal, wayward prince and heir to the English throne, is crowned King Henry V after his tyrannical father dies. Now the young king must navigate palace politics, the war his father left behind, and the emotional strings of his past life.
posted by nicolas léonard sadi carnot (6 comments total)

Timothée is gonna kill it as Paul Atreides!
posted by nicolas léonard sadi carnot at 7:26 PM on November 4, 2019

I am making myself watch this again another couple times before forming an opinion, particularly about Timothée's performance. Call Me By Your Name hit me way hard, and I'm trying to work through my "Yay it's Timothée" gushing before I form an opinion.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:41 AM on November 5, 2019

Something about this just did not click with me, but I really enjoyed Joel Edgerton’s performance (and that he co-wrote it!). Talented guy.
posted by sallybrown at 5:20 PM on November 5, 2019 [1 favorite]

I enjoyed this film, but I think it failed to adequately portray the scope of the "realm" and it's people. If I didn't know any better, there are only 100 people living in England, and 80 of them are mute soldiers with nary an opinion about anything. Whatever city this is encompases a small square, an inn, and an alley. Also, no one has a mother.

Robert Pattinson's French accent and cock insult are epic level meme fodder.
posted by Brocktoon at 11:52 PM on November 5, 2019 [2 favorites]

I'm also reserving judgement on Chalamet. Not seen him in enough generally. I also thought Edgerton was excellent, I turned off Jane got a Gun largely as a result of his mumbling heavy accent. Here he did a great job. Not just the accent but generally felt he delivered across the whole production. Pattinson sounded like he was trying out for an 'Allo 'Allo remake.
posted by biffa at 10:45 AM on November 10, 2019

Watching this in late 2024, knowing how Chalamet did in Dune and so just taking for granted that he has the necessary gravitas for this role... I liked The King a lot. I see from reviews that it was criticised in 2019 for historical inaccuracy (quite a bit of it) and for inaccuracy as an adaptation of Shakespeare (quite a bit of that, too), but on its own terms, this is never less than compelling and at times really gripping. Those scenes of trebuchets attacking the castle, and the battle of Agincourt, were brilliantly done, and the intrigue at court was also very well handled. I also really liked their take on Falstaff—not just the drunken old fool he's usually portrayed as, but a man of substance.

Nice to see two brilliant Aussies in key roles, too. I've loved Ben Mendelsohn since his breakthrough performances (he's almost my exact contemporary, so how could I not), and Joel Edgerton has rarely been better. The two were together previously in Animal Kingdom, which if you haven't seen you really should.

I see that Edgerton and Sean Harris also worked together again a few years after this on The Stranger, so I'll be watching that next. (That's the 2022 Netflix film, not the many other films or TV series of the same name. It isn't on Fanfare yet. Neither is Animal Kingdom.)
posted by rory at 2:33 AM on December 22, 2024