Glum and Dark Medieval History

Rating: 3/10 (2 November 2019)

"The King" is a modern revisionist-history reappraisal of the rise of King Henry V of England ("The Ideal King"). It is a story that has been done before and, one might venture to say, done rather better, by the likes of William Shakespeare. Like most modern movies, nobody in "The King" speaks above a murmur, a mumble or a whisper, not even when they should be making themselves heard before an audience. It is also very modern in that it depicts the Middle Ages as having taken place entirely in the dark or, at best, during the hours of twilight. The movie also persists in the modern belief that, contrary to the evidence of the numerous Medieval illuminations of artists such as Jean Froissart, the Middle Ages were a period completely devoid of color. According to the makers of "The King", in those days mpbpdy dressed in anything but black, brown or gray, all of the trees and grass were gray, and even the English flag, which is well-known to consist of a red cross on a white background, apparently consisted during the Middle Ages of a black cross on a while background. In fine, this movie undoubtedly will appeal to those to whom revisionist history appeals, and will not appeal to those who appreciate the poetry of William Shakespeare.