The King Dvd

The King is a 2019 epic historical romantic war drama film based on several plays from William Shakespeare’s “Henriad”. The film is directed by David Michôd, who produced the film with Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Liz Watts and Joel Edgerton according to the film’s screenplay which was written by Michod and Edgerton.

The film includes an ensemble cast led by Timothée Chalamet as Henry, Prince of Wales alongside Robert Pattinson, Ben Mendelsohn, Joel Edgerton, Sean Harris, Dean-Charles Chapman and Lily-Rose Depp in supporting roles with Mendelsohn as King Henry IV. The film focuses on the rise of Henry V as king after his father dies as he also must navigate palace politics, the war his father left behind, and the emotional strings of his past life.

The King premiered on Venice Film Festival on September 2, 2019 and was released digitally straight to Netflix, which also was one of the film’s production companies of the film, on October 11, 2019 in the United States. The film received mixed to positive reviews from critics and audience, who praised the cinematography and performances (particularly Chalamet and Pattinson’s), yet deemed it less than its production values.

The film received leading 12 nominations in the 9th AACTA Awards, including Best Film and Best Direction. However, it won only 4 AACTA Awards.

Plot

Henry, Prince of Wales (called “Hal” by his close friends), is the emotionally distant eldest and wastrel son of King Henry IV of England. Hal is uninterested in his father’s war policies and in succeeding him, and spends his days drinking, whoring, and jesting with his companion John Falstaff in Eastcheap. His father summons Hal and informs him that Hal’s younger brother, Thomas, will inherit the throne instead of Hal. Thomas is sent to subdue Hotspur’s rebellion but is upstaged by the arrival of Hal, who engages Hotspur in single combat. The sword fight descends into an armoured fistfight, and Hal kills Hotspur with a dagger. Although this decides the battle without further conflict, Thomas complains that Hal has stolen all the glory. Shortly thereafter, Thomas is killed in battle after taking his campaign to Wales.

Henry IV dies in his bed with Hal present, and Hal is crowned King Henry V. Hal is determined not to be like his father, and opts for peace and conciliation with his father’s adversaries, despite his actions being seen as weakness. At his coronation feast, the Dauphin of France sends Hal a ball, as an insulting and emasculating coronation gift. However, Hal chooses to frame this as a positive reflection of his boyhood before being crowned. His sister Philippa, now the Queen of Denmark, cautions that nobles in any royal court have their own interests in mind and will never fully reveal their true intentions.

Hal interrogates a captured assassin who claims to have been sent by King Charles VI of France to assassinate Hal. The English nobles Cambridge and Grey are approached by French agents hoping to induce them to the French cause. Their trust in the new young king wavers, and they then approach Hal’s Chief Justice, William Gascoigne, with their concerns. Gascoigne advises the young king that a show of strength is necessary to unite England, so to prove his competency, Hal declares war on France and has Cambridge and Grey beheaded. He approaches Falstaff and appoints him as his chief military strategist, saying that Falstaff is the only man he truly trusts.

The English army sets sail for France, with Hal at the forefront and Falstaff as his marshal. After completing the Siege of Harfleur, they continue on the campaign but are followed by the Dauphin, who repeatedly tries to provoke Hal. The English advance parties stumble upon a vast French army gathering to face them. Dorset advises Hal to retreat due to the superiority of the French forces, but Falstaff proposes a false advance to lure the French to rush forward into the muddy battlefield, where they will be weighed down by their heavy armour and horses. They will then be attacked by the English longbowmen and surrounded by a large flanking force hidden in the nearby woods.

Hal goes to the Dauphin and offers to fight in single combat to decide the battle, but the Dauphin refuses. The Battle of Agincourt commences, with Falstaff insisting on leading the false advance, since it is his battle plan sending men to their deaths. The plan works – the bulk of the French army charges to engage Falstaff’s force, and soon find themselves mired in the mud. Hal leads the flanking attack, and the outnumbered but far more mobile English army overpowers and slaughters the immobilized French, though Falstaff is killed. The Dauphin, still fresh and in heavy armour, attempts to revive the offer of single combat against the weary, lightly armoured Hal, but repeatedly slips and falls in the mud – the battle is over. Hal orders all the French prisoners executed for fear that they might regroup, an order that Falstaff had refused to carry out following the Siege of Harfleur.

Following the decisive victory, the English continue deeper into France. Hal reaches King Charles VI, who offers his surrender and the hand of his daughter Catherine of Valois. Hal returns to England with his new wife for the celebrations. He comes to her room to have a conversation, and she challenges his reasons for invading France. She denies that the French assassin and the insult originated from her father or her brother and dismisses Hal when he falls back on echoing the sentiments of others, sentiments Hal had dismissed earlier in the campaign. Hal realizes that the supposed French insult and acts of aggression against England were staged by Gascoigne to goad Hal into war. Hal confronts Gascoigne, confirms his suspicions, and an unashamed Gascoigne declares that peace comes only through victory. In cold fury, Hal kills Gascoigne and returns to Catherine, asking that she promises to always speak the truth to him.

Cast

Timothée Chalamet as King Henry “Hal” V of England
Joel Edgerton as Sir John Falstaff
Robert Pattinson as Louis, The Dauphin
Sean Harris as Chief Justice Sir William Gascoigne
Steven Elder as Lord Dorset
Ben Mendelsohn as King Henry IV of England
Dean-Charles Chapman as Prince Thomas
Lily-Rose Depp as Catherine of Valois
Thomasin McKenzie as Queen Phillippa of Denmark
Thibault de Montalembert as King Charles VI of France
Edward Ashley as Earl of Cambridge
Stephen Fewell as Lord Grey
Tara Fitzgerald as Nell Hooper
Andrew Havill as Archbishop of Canterbury
Tom Glynn-Carney as Sir Henry “Hotspur” Percy
Tom Fisher as Earl of Northumberland
Tom Lawrence as Earl of Westmorland
Ivan Kaye as Lord Scrope