Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: To Kill a King

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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 07-02-2003, 09:15 AM:

In the aftermath of the battle of Marston Moor, General Fairfax deposes Charles I and Oliver Cromwell declares himself 'Lord Protector' of a new English republic.

A perfectly efficient heritage/costume movie but rather heavy handed propaganda, I thought. The script contained some very obvious comparisons between Cromwell and Blair and Fairfax and virtually everyone Blair's fallen out with. In particular C's plan to 'spin' an unnecessary war on Scotland to enhance his popularity was pretty crude stuff.

Acting was all OK - Rupert Everett makes a suitably camp and arrogant Charles (with an accent deliberately intended to evoke today's Prince Charles, I thought), strategic displays of Olivia Williams' cleavage were clearly designed to keep the male audience interested and the execution scene is particularly grisly.

Directing was a bit slow and loses momentum at times, and the absence of any real crowd scenes suggests a limited budget. As is increasingly the case with new releases, the 'scope print seemed very soft and fuzzy.