The Madness of King George (1994)

across political life secrets, about a case who reminds "Exit the King" by Eugene Ionesco, who gives a different portrait of royalty and power and the status of a king who becomes refugee in his self universe. more than a lesson of history, more than remember of English modern history episode, the film has the virtue to propose a delicate theme of reflection. and one of the most inspired supports are the admirable performances, the solid script and, sure, the costumes. a film about a crisis and the images of it for the each part of this crisis. maybe, a film about family relations than a political film. because, one of its fine virtues remains the science of detail. and the right way to explore the result of a dramatic change of history.

Producer Stephen Evans, helping to launch the career of Actor/Director Kenneth Branagh in 1989 with Henry V., also gives stage director Nicholas Hytner a shot towards the cinematic visualization of a play by Alan Bennett in the production of "The Madness of King George" (1994).Set in England of 1788, the character of King George III., performed by engaged Nigel Hawthorne (1929-2001) in a part of a life-time, mourns on the loss of the New World at dark and gritty designed sets of Windsor Castle by production designer Ken Adam, who also prepared Stanley Kubrick's sets for "Barry Lyndon" (1975) and the James Bond movies of the 1960s and 1970s. Director Nicholas Hytner had been well advised by Cinematographer Andrew Dunn to shoot the majority of the picture with a wide lens in order to capture the whole environment even in close-up shots, which gives "The Madness of King George" a constant glance at life conditions even with the Royal Family in 18th century.Actor Nigel Hawthorne, carrying the picture with two strong supports, on the one side actress Helen Mirren, who gives life to Queen Charlotte, with who she stays behind her possibilities in any given scene, preparing emotional space for the character of George III to own the picture; on the other side, the character of Willis, the doctor without a license, portrayed by Ian Holm with one evil eye on torture practices before bowing to the newly recovered King with his family by the end of "The Madness of King George", which had been a motion picture put in the vintage pool of 1994 with cinematic splendor from "Pulp Fiction" at the Cannes Film Festival, "Forrest Gump" and "The Lion King" side-by-side as Summer Smash-Hits for the masses, "Natural Born Killers", becoming the alternative choice to all the sweeteners and the hidden glow of "The Shawshank Redemption" about to explore in years to come.Director Nicholas Hytner just shared enough information with his leading man Nigel Hawthorne to give the actor the freedom of developing the nature-loving, bound in low life extravagance George, having his most convincing beats, when meeting a pig farmer on the country side to kiss a freshly born pig on the muzzle and further peaking in his performance with an heart-breaking speech in a room with prime minister and his staff explaining that the American continent is a paradise lost to the common man.The king's son also named George, portrayed by a slightly pale and faceless Rupert Everett, can not convince any society with his low-tempered appearances in public, so that the actor gives room to an ultimate punchline, "You wish me death, you little brat" where the character of George acts on fire and finally taking charge of his kingdom, after at times in-balanced and indecisively directions by Nicholas Hytner with regard to a sequence spanning six months of treading a disease of the nervous system called Porphyria with a carrying through actor Ian Holm as leading force and a luckily visual-rescuing soundtrack by George Fenton that conclusively Nigel Hawthorne got into position to give his interpretation of King George III a round-up, when the final curtain drops for the otherwise well-crafted motion picture called "The Madness of King George".© 2017 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

I'm writing these comments about "The Madness of King George" because of the singular outstanding performance by Nigel Hawthorne. This is one of the most versatile roles in films in decades. It surely ranks among the very best of all time. As King George, Hawthorne covers a range of emotions, personalities and temperaments not often found in film roles. His character is a study in transition from the serious to the serene to the silly. It's a role of drama, of hilarity, of ego and stuffiness, of pathos, of sorrow and regret, and of gentleness and kindness. What an exceptional acting job.Most often I watch a movie for the whole experience, taking in the plot, characters, acting, scenes and scenery, location, action, intrigue, comedy, tragedy, as a blend of the whole product. All of these weigh in and affect how much I enjoy the film. But half way through this film, I became aware that I was more engrossed in the lead character himself, and the great diversity and excellence of acting on display. Others have commented that Hawthorne should have won the Best Actor Academy Award for his role in 1994. While I like Tom Hanks as an actor, I agree that his role in Forrest Gump wasn't anything exceptional. Certainly not on the order of "Mr. King" in "The Madness of King George." Indeed, Hawthorne must have had to work on his role -- even as a consummate actor, if not for the variations of mood and portrayals, at least for the vast amount of lines he had to speak in the film. By comparison, the Forrest Gump role had a very small amount of lines, and those were far less taxing to an actor. Hanks' was a role that seemed more fun and easygoing than a challenge or demand. I'm not one to complain about Hollywood (except for the low quality and volume of attempts at humor in the past 20 years), but once in a while I think that many others who make the same observation are right on. Hollywood flops big time in its Oscar choice of an actor, actress or film once in a while. It seems to me that the California-based Academy at times doesn't look as objectively and honestly at films produced outside the U.S. Nothing else produced in 1994 even came close to the outstanding acting by Hawthorne in this first rate film.

The Fat one....what what..The greatest performance I have ever seen. Nigel was the finest actor of our time, and his performance in The Madness Of King George, along with the rest of the cast is nothing short of Brilliant. Amazing Film a must see....If there were more then 10 stars to give I would... I give it a 15 out of 10. 5 points higher then Excellent. Truly a work of art. Also Ian Holms performance is truly incredible.I could watch this movie over and over and over. The Dialouge is also one of a kind and I can't remember a more believable performance to date."When felons were induced to talk, they were shown first the instruments of their torture. The King is shown the instrument of His... to induce Him NOT to talk."