Review of The King (2019) by Hepwa — 01 Nov 2019

The film this first brought to mind was Warren Beatty's "Reds", not that they share many narrative similarities, but they both tell the story of men overwhelmed by their place in history, emboldened by it and, in many ways, betrayed. Even the look of the film echoes some of the work done by Vittorio Storaro in the earlier film; Adam Arkapaw is a brilliant young cinematographer and a future film bro god, I'm sure.

Henry V is not one of the Shakespeare plays I've read or seen (though now I want to watch the Branagh), so I came into this quite unaware of what was to come and in the early going, I wasn't sold on Chalamet's take as a young wayward prince who despised his father ("the monster") and the transition from outcast to king comes so quickly, it doesn't give us much time to adapt. Before we know it, young King Henry is insulted by a gift from King Charles of France and convinced to take his country to war by his minions. But once he does take the crown, his ascent from boy king to leader of men becomes more urgent and convincing. Aided by his close friend, John Falstaff, they are soon crossing the channel to wage war and gain the respect that can only come by sacrificing hundreds of young men all for god and country.

"The King" raises many questions about the responsibility of leadership and the hell it can unleash in the wrong hands, but it struggles to answer them. Falstaff's advice can only go so far before the great battle of Agincourt is upon us and, in 2019 when we're all accustomed to the cries of draining the swamp, Michod shoves his soldiers right into it, perhaps an unintentional metaphor, but one that serves the film when it badly needs it.

Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris are fantastic as the yin and yang to Chalamet's king Henry. Ben Mendehlson and Thibault de Montalembert (from the fun French series "Call My Agent") are the opposing kings whose animosity is handed down to Hal. Lily-Rose Depp has a great scene at the end of the film that brings a lot of the proceedings together. The rest of the cast, including Tom Glynn-Carney, Thomasin McKenzie and Ivan Kaye, are all excellent in their brief roles. Then there's Robert Pattinson as the French Dauphin, son of King Charles. From earlier reviews, I expected the accent to be a bit more outrageous, but I think it suited his character.

All other technical aspects are top notch: directing, score, editing, costumes, production design. There's some solid stuff there and if this was a conventional theatrical release, its Oscar chances would have to be improved.

In the end, a lot of this is the Timmy show, and the main reason I would watch this in the first place. Taking this role is a shrewd move for the young actor following his softer turns in Call Me by Your Name and Beautiful Boy. He smolders throughout and comes close to being a spoiled pout, but it never takes, and by the time he's leading his men into battle, I believed him completely. He is one of those actors who is capable of expressing great emotion without the gnashing of teeth and histrionics that weighs down others. I have no doubt that he will be one of the great actors and movie stars of his direction. I'd sure as hell follow him into the breach.