The Madness of King George
List Price:
Our Price: $6.79
You Save: $8.19 (55%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.25 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Amanda Donohoe, Helen Mirren, Ian Holm, Nigel Hawthorne, Rupert GravesBrand: Sony
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 107 minutes
Published: 2001-06-01
DVD Release Date: 2001-06-05
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of The Madness of King George
Movie Review: A GIFT OF HISTORY
Summary: 5 Stars
I count this movie as one of the best I have ever seen.
The director, screenwriter, costume designer, art director, and actors take what is a less-than-fascinating incident in the life of a (less-than-fascinating?) historical figure and, with artistic and intellectual brilliance, produce a luxuriant, vibrant, spectacularly colorful, intellectually stimulating and thought-provoking film. It is dramatized history and extravagant cinema at their best!
In real life, George III of England suffered from what scientists think was probably porphyria, a disorder whereby liver enzymes fail to be excreted from the body and produce, among other symptoms, insanity. The disease has remissions and exacerbations that are unpredictable, and we are watching the first time the disease presents itself in George III, in the 18th century, after England lost the Revolutinary War to the American colonists.
It is not the king and his disease that make for great cinema. It is the relationships among king, courtiers, the House of Peers, the House of Commons, the Prince of Wales, Queen Charlotte, the two court doctors, a country doctor who originates a sensible and relatively compassionate treatment for the mentally ill, and the people of England that make this a dynamic tour-de-force. Each character is so incredibly alive and vivid.
For example, one of the king's advisors, a Mr. Penn, a nobleman in the House of Peers, is so exquisitely portrayed that he could be a movie in himself: he is a dour, almost sour young man whose lack of humor makes him the [...] of jokes by his more fun-loving colleagues. He dresses like a Puritan. He sides with a Mr. Fox in the House of Commons and the Prince of Wales, who is going out of his mind in the restless anticipation of replacing his father on the throne, that the king should be removed if, indeed, he is insane, and that this should be done by an act of Parliament. However, as the king's illness and treatment progress, Mr. Penn proves to be a thoughtful, moral man of honor and integrity. He feels it is his duty to support the king as his subject as he struggles to break free of his madness. When King George's recovery is imminent, although he was considering backing parliamentary revocation of the throne when the king was mad, he announces the recovery publicly, in Parliament, thus making insurrection impossible.
In addition to the actor's splendid characterization, this character was enhanced (as were all the characters) by absolutely spectacular costuming and make-up. Mr. Penn, in face and figure, happened to resemble an eighteenth-century man in a Gainsborough painting, and thus his slightly coarse, wavy, light-brown hair was teased into a Gainsborough 'fro, and he looked exactly as though he stepped out of an 18th century painting. Perhaps the most delightful results of the hairdressers', makeup artists' and costumers' art was the Prince of Wales and his younger brother. They were both portrayed as insufferable fops, and the aforementioned artists worked them up to a la-de-da beyond the last frontiers of outrageousness and camp that truly has to be seen to be appreciated.
The net result of all of the above is that history jumps right into your lap. Never has an epoch become more alive than in this film, from the details of costume and mannerism to the exposition of philosophical ideas and values that distinguished 18th-century England and were passed from her to her American cousin, even as they became separated.
If you love history and love cinema, do not fail to see this film.
Summary of The Madness of King George
Written by Alan Bennett from his stage play and featuring a towering performance by Nigel Hawthorne, and a stunning screen directorial debut (Variety) by Tony Award winner* Nicholas Hytner, this Academy AwardÂ(r)-winning** masterpiece of royal intrigue ispotent, engrossing and thrilling (Los Angeles Times). Just five years after losing the 'rebellious colonies, it appears that England's King George III (Hawthorne) is now losing his mind! Suddenly, the stately monarch is hallucinating, shouting obscenities, behaving lewdly towards the Queen's (Helen Mirren) comelylady-in-waiting and generally becoming a candidate for the lunatic asylum. The palace doctors are baffled, but the Prince of Wales (Rupert Everett), tired of playing the waiting game, conspires to take advantage of the situation. Will the King's supporters be able to restore their monarch's wits before he's stripped of his throne? *1994: Director (Musical), Carousel **1994: Art DirectionNicholas Hytner had an international stage phenomenon with Alan Bennett's play The Madness of King George, starring Nigel Hawthorne as King George III, the British monarch who lost the American colonies. But in this film adaptation, Hytner unfortunately yields to the old temptation to "open up" the piece with lots of arbitrary exteriors, rushed set pieces, choppy editing, and so on, robbing Hawthorne's acclaimed stage performance of coherency and power on the big screen. Viewers are forced to fill in emotional gaps for themselves (and try to imagine what Bennett's work must have looked and felt like originally), and the whole enterprise has a pseudo-cinematic, self-congratulatory air. --Tom Keogh
Similar DVD Movies
The Lion in WinterSony; Release date: 2001-06-19; DVD
Best price: $7.23
Price in other shops:
Anne of the Thousand Days / Mary, Queen of ScotsUni; Release date: 2007-09-18; DVD
Best price: $11.11
Price in other shops:
The Lost PrinceWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-10-26; DVD
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
A Man for All Seasons (Special Edition)Sony; Release date: 2007-02-20; DVD
Best price: $6.31
Price in other shops:
Elizabeth - The Golden Age (Widescreen Edition)UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOME ENTERTAIN.; Release date: 2008-02-05; DVD
Best price: $3.50
Price in other shops:
Empires: Queen Victoria's EmpirePBS; Release date: 2006-05-23; DVD
Best price: $10.21
Price in other shops:
Nicholas and AlexandraSony; Release date: 1999-07-27; DVD
Best price: $12.90
Price in other shops:
The Last King - The Power and the Passion of Charles IIA&E; Release date: 2004-04-27; DVD
Best price: $6.46
Price in other shops:
The Young VictoriaSony; Release date: 2010-04-20; DVD
Best price: $5.11
Price in other shops:
Her Majesty, Mrs BrownEBH; Release date: 2011-07-05; DVD
Best price: $2.64
Price in other shops: