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The Last King - The Power and the Passion of Charles II |
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The Last King - The Power and the Passion of Charles II
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by A&E Home Video
Sales Rank: 14700
Price: $15.99
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It's not always good to be king in this fascinating BBC/A&E historical drama, featuring a complex performance by Rufus Sewell as the exiled British monarch who returned to a volatile, post-Cromwell England in the 17th century. Pressed to forgive the enemies who killed his father, Charles II takes the throne and finds himself squeezed from all sides by vicious power brokers, his vengeful mother (Diana Rigg), a manipulative mistress (Helen McCrory), dubious advisers, a contrarian best friend (Rupert Graves), and his bewildered Portuguese wife (Shirley Henderson). Problems with the Plague and Charles's own, restless libido further complicate family and political dramas, but beneath the king's operatic tenure are visible strains of progressive government: Charles, after all, ushered in an early era of democracy in England. <I>The Last King</I>'s sharp script never slows, but it's the cast's intense performances that bring royal intrigues to life. <I>--Tom Keogh</I>
Viewer Reviews
2 and a half stars. Ultimately, this film is unsatisfying because it is fails to provide context and continuity for the life of the influential and fascinating monarch it attempts to portray--it is more diorama than biography. Actors in the major roles are never portrayed as aging--if it weren't for other indications that he was nearing the end of his reign, Charles's death would be a total surprise. The only character development that rings true is the portrayal of the growth of Charles's respect and affection for his barren wife, Catherine of Braganza. (The epilog might have mentioned that after her eventual return to her Portugese homeland, the widowed Catherine ruled for years as her brother's regent, loved and respected in Portugal as she had come to be in England. She also plead with her brother-in-law King James for the life of the foolhardy Duke of Monmouth, her husband's illegitimate son.)
Too confusing for those who haven't an acquaintance with Restoration Britain, and too uninformative for those who have. The too numerous sex scenes preclude its use as an educational film. Too bad.
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