The King
|
List Price: Our Price: $0.24 You Save: $9.74 (98%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of The King
Movie Review: A horror movie, but not in the sense that you are used to.
Summary: 4 Stars
After being discharged from the Navy, a disturbed young man named Elvis (Gael Garcia Bernal) seeks out his father, whom he has never met. When his father (William Hurt), now a preacher, rejects him, Elvis seeks revenge on his father through his father's new family.
"The King" is a "horror" movie, but not in the sense that you are probably used to. According to the "letter from the director", that is included in the DVD case of this movie, "The King" was partially inspired by the horror movies that the director saw in his youth, including "Brimstone and Treacle", a film about a strange young man who makes his way into the family of a middle-aged writer. That plot is pretty much the same as that of "The King" (except the bit about the writer), but to call this film a "horror" film would be misleading. The term "horror" usually evokes images of supernatural monsters or knife-wielding maniacs. Elvis is not a maniac and he is very much a human being. What this film deals with is the horrors that human beings are capable of, given the right (or wrong) circumstances.
I can imagine that this film might not be to everyone's tastes. It is slow moving to begin with, and the subject matter is often unpleasant (including the incestuous relationship that forms between Elvis and his half-sister). However, if you're not put off by the plot description, it is a well written and well acted movie (Hurt is in his best role in years and Bernal is always excellent) that takes some interested turns along the way. It's definitely worth giving a try.
Movie Review: Angel of vengeance . . .
Summary: 4 Stars
Spanish actor Gael Garcia Barnel, whom American audiences know from "Motorcycle Diaries" and "Y Tu Mama Tambien," turns in a credible performance as a young American just out of the Navy, who tracks down the man (William Hurt) who once fathered him out of wedlock. Now married with teenage children and pastor of a large congregation in Corpus Christi, the man is in no mood to accept a son conceived in sin, and his refusal sets in motion a kind of murderous vendetta that is played out in the rest of the film.
Once you accept the premise of the story, the unexpected and sometimes implausible turns of plot take on an unavoidable inevitability, all the way to its abrupt ending. In an age of embarrassing revelations about the personal lives of high-profile church leaders, this film has a currency for viewers both in and out of the Bible Belt. Behind the blissful appearances, this particular preacher's family is unspeakably troubled, so much so that mother and daughter seem submerged in a grim silence, ready to bristle with resistance to the man who rules their lives. Meanwhile, his son, openly admired in public, draws his rebuke by revealing something of the boy's own personal anguish during a Sunday morning service. Barnel's Elvis (the "King" of the title) becomes a sweet-faced angel of vengeance, and when he's done there is virtually nothing left undone. This film rightly got two thumbs up from Ebert and Roeper. It's worth seeing.
Movie Review: The King of Indy Films
Summary: 4 Stars
The King is an intense, often painful film about a young man named Elvis (Gael Garcia Bernal) who gets out of the Navy and comes to Corpus Christi, Texas to find his father, Pastor David Sandow (William Hurt). When Sandow tells Elvis to stay away from his family, he doesn't realize what he's brought upon his family.
This film is full of remarkable performances. Paul Dano (Ballad of Jack and Rose, Little Miss Sunshine) is a young Christian fundamentalist pushing to get intelligent design into the school curriculum. Every time this guy appears in a film, his characters are well-developed and totally unique. He's perfect in The King. Pell James, as the object of Elvis's affection is equally awesome. William Hurt's Pastor Sandow is an amazing character creation and worthy of an Oscar-nomination.
Like Monster's Ball (one of the writer's of this wrote Monster's Ball), The King is terribly depressing, but worth watching for the moving story and performances. There's a lot of sex and violence interspersed through this dark story. You may not find yourself wanting to watch it again and again, though. The most interesting part of the film is the examination of Pastor Sandow's faith and how he uses it to deal with the events that occur. The phrase "I need to get right with God." will never sound the same to you again, after viewing this film.
Movie Review: THE KING'S STAR POWER
Summary: 4 Stars
Gael Garcia Bengal has proved over and over again how fine a actor he is. I got lost in this performance because he effortlessly played a character of little sympathy. I almost missed that he was playing a sociopath.
I couldn't quite understand his choice and perspicuous leaving from the army. Elvis the character Mr.Bengal was playing; it was not clear why he left the army. The subliminal choice of joining may have been for the regiment and officious nature of the army. My supposition is that a sociopath least best place is in the army during war.
To return to the bulk of the story without giving it away. Elvis basically is in search of his biological father. Played with profundity by William Hurt, one of his best rolls in years. This journey is rather roundabout; eventually his relationship is known and the film jumps in high gear. Mr. Bengal as usual is worth the price of a movie or DVD.
Movie Review: Like Claude Chabrol in Texas
Summary: 4 Stars
You get the basic plot of this movie right away. The illegitimate son goes to meet his biological father and gets less than a warm welcome. From there the plot unfolds as the son sticks around with deepening consequences for the father and his family. What impressed me most about this movie wasn't the plot however, but the style of the film. It reminded me a lot of the French director Claude Chabrol's work. Lots of style and good pacing that keep you intrigued until the end. Gael Garcia Bernal is intense on screen and William Hurt plays the Texas fundamendalist preacher with conviction. I've never been to South Texas but this movie made me feel like I was there. It's not an uplifting film but it makes you think, especially about the forces of religion and the dark side of human nature.