Movie Review: The King

The King *** ½ / *****

Directed by: David Michôd.

Written by: Joel Edgerton and David Michôd.

Starring: Timothée Chalamet (King Henry V of England 'Hal'), Robert Pattinson (The Dauphin of France), Ben Mendelsohn (Henry IV), Joel Edgerton (Sir John Falstaff), Lily-Rose Depp (Catherine), Dean-Charles Chapman (Thomas of Lancaster), Thomasin McKenzie (Philippa), Sean Harris (William), Tara Fitzgerald (Hooper), Tom Glynn-Carney (Hotspur), Ivan Kaye (Lord Scrope), Andrew Havill (Archbishop of Canterbury), Tom Fisher, Edward Ashley (Cambridge), Tom Lawrence (Westmorland), Nick Wittman (Herald), Steven Elder (Dorset), Thibault de Montalembert (King Charles VI of France).

 

David Michod’s The King is a film about one of England’s great warrior kings – Henry V – who had many legendary wins on the battlefield, but that makes it clear from the get go that it is a role he never wanted. Based loosely on Shakespeare’s various Henriad, without citing the famous writer, or using his language, the film condenses the action, and puts a new spin on it – getting through it all in a little under two-and-a-half hours. It’s not a particularly original film – it won’t make you forget either the Olivier or Branagh version of Henry V, nor Braveheart a film that the battles are clearly inspired by, nor Chimes at Midnight, the Welles masterpiece that remains the best take on Falstaff now and forever, – but it is a different take on this oft-told tale, with some winning performances and filmmaking at its core.

 

When we first meet Prince Hal (Timothée Chalamet), he is a young hedonist, with floppy hair, waking up next to a woman he doesn’t know after yet another hard night of partying. He is the Crown Prince – but he hates his father, Henry IV (Ben Mendelsohn), a petty, puffy tyrant and doesn’t much care when he is informed that he won’t become King after all – that will go to his younger brother. But, of course, things don’t turn out that way – and Hal becomes Henry V, the ruler of England, who is almost immediately mired in one military campaign after another. He doesn’t want fighting – he thinks his father’s infighting within England was petty and silly, and he ignores the first few insults hurled at him by France – while all his adviser tries to goad him into going to war. Of course, who can he trust among his advisers – who also advised his father after all. William (Sean Harris) seems to be the one who listens to him closest, but he’s not truly at ease with him. His sister (a wonderful Thomasin McKenzie cameo) tells him to watch out for those advisers. He will eventually bring in his old drinking buddy Falstaff (Joel Edgerton) – a knight, and former military hero, who now basically drinks, or commits petty crimes so he can continue to drink. And eventually, whether he likes it or, there will be war with France.

 

This is a story you’ve likely seen before – but not quite in this way. The performances have much to do with that. Chalamet would not have been my choice here, but I was clearly wrong – he is excellent as the principled, idealist but undisciplined young Prince, who has to become King, and do what is right. The themes here are familiar – it’s hard for a good man to be King, or for a King to remain a good man or Heavy is the head that wears the crown or whatever cliché you prefer. But it comes together nicely in Chalamet’s skilled hands – making his Hal appropriate for the film, yet seemingly more modern. For comic effect, Robert Pattison has a few scenes as the foppish, silly Dauphin of France – and he’s clearly having a field day with his silly accent just this side of Monty Python, and mannerisms. Had he more scenes, perhaps it would have worn thin – but as it stands, it’s just about perfect. But it is co-writer Edgerton as Falstaff who I think is best here. No, he cannot hope to erase the memory of Welles’ Falstaff in the brilliant Chimes at Midnight – but they do something similar here, taking a comedic character, and turning him into a more thoughtful, tragic figure – someone who drinks as a way to forget what he has done, who doesn’t seek out more war, but does what he must anyway.

 

When the massive battle of Agincourt does arrive, Michod goes for it at full tilt. It is a muddy, bloody mess – but a brilliantly staged one from Michod, which is both viscerally exciting, genuinely moving, and showing off the strategy behind it all. Perhaps he’s cribbing from Braveheart a little – but the battles have their own flavor to them as well.

 

Michod is the talented Australian filmmaker, who still hasn’t topped his excellent debut film Animal Kingdom (although his follow-up, The Rover, is perhaps more ambitious). This certainly makes up for his last Netflix film – the misfire War Machine with Brad Pitt – and shows the talent he has. Perhaps he never will make a film quite as good as Animal Kingdom again – but more films like The King would be fine by me.