Customer Reviews
Majesty All Powerful and All Knowing. But He Wasn't Quite All Thre. - By: prisrob, 12 May 2008 
"Playwright Alan Bennett, who adapted his own stage work, takes as his inspiration a time when George III -- the George who lost the North American colonies -- appears to have also lost his mind. What happens, Bennett asks, when a man can no longer project the power required of a ruler? And in its absence, what fills the psychological space where power used to reside." Lisa Schwarzbaum
Nigel Hawthorne spares no facial grimace nor utterance as he portrays King George III who loses his mind but finallly finds his grieving heart. A must see performance & one that had me cheering him on. Helen Mirren as the Queen or better known as Mrs King to her George III, plays an amazing Queen. Mother of 15 children, though we only meet five or six of them, is finely clad & dressed. Amanda Donohue plays her staid lady in waiting. And Rupert Everett as the elder son George, an arrogant & immature man with a wig that portrays his ridiculousness quite keenly. The entire cast is well done.
Peter Travers tells us that "Experts say the king suffered from porphyria, a metabolic imbalance whose symptoms resemble madness'. When the traditional medical care does not work, the Queen & her lady bring in a non-traditional physician, played by Ian Holm who produces a repetitive act of "tying the kangaroo down" so to speak & the King recovers. It is during a reading of King Lear that King George seems to put the pieces back together & he once again comes to his senses. Off to save the day.
The entire family returns to court & alll dressed in blue & red, the family walks up the stairs, Queen Charlotte says: "Come on, smile & wave. That's what you get paid for. Smile & wave." A wonderful, parody. "Meanwhile, the arrestingly stylized imagery of the original Madness has not been lost, particularly when the royal family freezes into elaborate tableaux of hollow noblesse oblige. Any resemblance to Windsors, Kennedys, or any other royal personnel currently living is strictly not coincidental." Lisa Obliermann
This film bogged down in the first half but came to life & I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Hail To The King!
Highly Recommended. prisrob 05-04-08
