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Seriously, though. WHY. Ok, most of us are well aware that Shakespeare isn’t exactly known for his own loyalty to historical accuracy, but IT’S SHAKESPEARE. When some filmmaker comes along and decides to film a Shakespearean play, it’s almost a foregone conclusion that they’re going to immediately decide to put their own “spin” on the text. Do these fuckers actually think they’re better storytellers than THE MOTHERFUCKING BARD?
The most egregious of this “yes, yes they do think they’re better storytellers of the motherfucking Bard” in recent memory is The King (2019), directed by David Michôd and starring Timothée Chalamet which not only took every opportunity to veer off script, but also largely ignored what little history there was in Shakespeare’s play and just kind of decided to make shit up. I’ll give Michôd and co-writer Joel Edgerton credit for not actually titling the screenplay anything that would set up huge expectations for a factual biopic about Henry V of England, but that’s really about it. They sourced themes from “several” Shakespearean plays (according to Wikipedia — though there really was only three plays written by Shakespeare dealing with Hal, with Henry IV, Part II and Henry V being the main two), and then apparently stopped there.
The costumes, at least those of which weren’t made of metal, also followed a similar approach of “we looked at some paintings and then did whatever the fuck we felt like.”
I will give the filmmakers props for going for the Dorkiest Historical Haircut of All Time award, however.
But what about motherfucking Falstaff? Perhaps one of the most tragic figures in the Henriad, Falstaff is an aging knight with a penchant for drink and women, who takes on a fatherly role for Prince Hal who is largely estranged from his own father during his teens. Of course, the big tragedy is that Hal ultimately rebuffs Falstaff once he’s king, and Falstaff more or less dies of a broken heart, and Henry kind of just moves on with his life. Falstaff is pretty much a figure of Shakespeare’s imagination, sort of loosely based on a couple of different men who were close to Henry, but really serves as a stark reminder that a Prince must become a King someday and that involves setting aside his childhood friends, sometimes cruelly.
Well, that’s not exactly what happens in The King. Given that Joel Edgerton co-wrote the screenplay and plays John Falstaff, the role is expanded into something that bears little resemblance to the source material. Instead of being outright rejected by Hal when he becomes king, Falstaff becomes a war hero and basically goes on a suicide mission for Henry, because … I dunno. All men dream of dying gloriously in battle, and Joel Edgerton is no exception?
And then there’s Robert Pattinson as the Dauphin. We haven’t seen a more ridiculous demonization of a bundle of stereotypes about French people since Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Seriously, if you want to watch a film about Henry V, watch either the one by Kenneth Branagh or the one by Laurence Olivier. Don’t waste your time on this dreck.
Have you watched The King (2019)? I am so, so sorry. Commiserate with me in the comments.Â
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I would actually love to see RPatz as the Dauphin reciting, “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.”
Sequel Post Idea! Why do they keep F…ing with Jane Austen’s prose?!
aka Netflix, Please Don’t Do It Again!
I couldn’t be bothered with this one, especially as we’d just had Tom Hiddleston a few years earlier in The Hollow Crown!
I wholeheartedly agree!
Leave Shakespeare out of it and THE KING is an interesting study of a young man on the make and the price of believing your own publicity: also, it’s the film that introduced me to Ms. Lily Rose Depp and I have yet to regret having the actress drawn to my attention.
Honestly, in this she’s more regal than Mr Chalamet & Mr Pattinson put together (Heck, you might even throw Mr Ben Mendelssohn into the mix and honours would be even).
Also, you’re talking about Mr Pattinson’s Dauphin as if such a delicious serving of pure cheese were a BAD thing!😉
“THE KING is an interesting study of a young man on the make and the price of believing your own publicity”
The curious thing is that the protagonist is still “based” on a real life figure: Henry V. And Henry V was pushing 30 at the Battle of Agincourt, which by Medieval standards was roughly middle-aged. And believing his own publicity? He won. And even re-invaded.
If it were a fictional personage, do whatever you like. But it’s a perfectly fair criticism that this movie is neither Shakespeare nor historical, and is shite in both departments.