By Siavash Minoukadeh, Entertainment Sub-Editor
The King, Netflix's new Shakespeare adaptation, has a standout performance from Timothée Chalamet but tired period tropes mean the tense atmosphere falls flat throughout.
It was bold of director David Michôd to decide to retell the story of King Henry V, already made so famous by Shakespeare. If we were to sit and wonder why, on the fields of Agincourt, Timothée Chalamet’s Hal does not yell out anything as stirring as ‘We few, we happy few, we band of brothers,’ The King (2019) would always disappoint. Taken on its own terms, it stands up to scrutiny a bit better.
Chalamet’s central role as Prince Hal - later to become King Henry - provides the picture with a very strong base. We’re used to seeing him play moody, introverted figures and he shines at that in the film’s early moments. What’s more intriguing is seeing how he takes to the position of authority he finds himself thrust in with his father’s death.
More twink than jock, he’s not who you’d typically think of as your battlefield hero but with a new short trim and a whole suit of armour, he does end up looking pretty tough when rolling about homoerotically in the mud. Watching him, there is an urge - in the evergreen words of another monarch - to bow down bitches.
#TheKing on Netflix is so beautifully and poetically written it makes me hate the ending of GOT even more. Once again, Chalamet ATE his role.
— lin🧜🏾♀️ (@lindseyaddawoo) November 2, 2019
Sadly the same cannot be said for Robert Pattinson, who is a bizarre choice as the French dauphin. Whilst there’s meant to be a touch of comedy in his character, his attempt at a french accent is a laughable caricature that interrupts the drama. I hate to say it,I hope I don’t sound ridiculous, I have no idea why this man was cast - sorry to Robert Pattinson. The whole broader choice to have anglophone actors, who can speak English well, to attempt to not be able to speak fluently is bizarre.
This is especially odd given that Chalamet can speak French - he does so charmingly in Call Me by Your Name (2017) - so why the conversations with the French monarchy could not have been in French is baffling. Perhaps Netflix thought that having scenes with subtitling would have put audiences off and made this a niche drama with a ‘foreign film’ audience rather than a wider market.
Watching him, there is an urge - in the evergreen words of another monarch - to bow down bitches
This tension between where the film naturally feels like it should belong - within the genre of indie-history such as Fanny Lye Deliver’d (2019) - and where Netflix have tried to make it fit comes across in a lot of the rest of the action as well.
Countless domestic scenes are ripped right out of BBC period dramas with nothing noteworthy. That’s not to say that The King is not attempting to do anything original. It’s portrayal of the internal troubles in Henry’s head, externalised by his confidante Falstaff makes for a refreshing change from the usual power struggle stories so common in historical dramas.
The same goes for the approach taken to battle scenes. There is no Game of Thrones-style glory here: the camera masterfully captures the grit, pain and ultimate futility of warfare. Even after his victory, Henry is not basked in a heroic light but instead reflects on the cost of it all, a refreshing change from the testosterone-filled dick-swinging plots we too often see.
Its bold rejection of the conventional misplaced heroism of battle movies is a welcome change
Underneath the tired aesthetics - with some notable exceptions - and political power struggles we see, The King does therefore have a point to make and a raison d’etre. Its bold rejection of the conventional misplaced heroism of battle movies is a welcome change and even if we have to dig a bit to find this new story under the weaker moments - thrown in to make it more appealing to a broader audience - it is still a worthwhile watch.
Maybe just once though, as the real glue of the film is Chalamet and with Little Women (2019) soon to be released, there’ll soon be something new to watch him shine in.
Featured - IMDb / Netflix
Did you bow down to the King? Let us know!
