Review of The Man Who Would Be King (1975) by Stuart M — 03 May 2017

A great film set in the heyday of British colonialism that ends in a very dark place via a surprisingly lighthearted journey. The film is a good old-fashioned adventure story at its heart, with Caine and Connery as two roguish ex-army types seeking to become stinking rich by setting themselves up as kings in Kafiristan. Despite their amorality, the pair are quite charming and it is fun to watch them succeed, especially since we are not witnesses to the harm their actions will cause. There's even a strange nobility in their arrogance. The film makes a very clever decision here to have us see the pride and wonder of the British Empire before taking us on a tour of its dark side. By the time things turn bad, you're enough on their side to sympathize with them, even though their predicament is their own damned fault.

The music is excellent too, based around an old British army march given an orchestral airing.