The King (film)
Encyclopedia
The King is a 2005 co-produced UK
and American
drama film
about a troubled man, recently discharged from the Navy, who goes to Corpus Christi
, Texas
, in search of the father he's never met.
The film is deeply rooted in a Southern Gothic
style and features themes similar to those in Greek Tragedy. It was written by its British director James Marsh
and also by Milo Addica, the Academy Award nominated writer of Monster's Ball
and Birth
. Starring Gael García Bernal
, who received strong critical acclaim for his portrayal of the main character, Elvis, it also stars William Hurt
and Pell James
.
), is discharged and purchases a used car to travel to his “home” in Corpus Christi
, Texas
. Elvis arrives at the church of Pastor
David Sandow (William Hurt
). He watches his sermon from the back of the church and then follows him and his family, including his wife Twyla (Laura Harring
), son Paul (Paul Dano
) and daughter Malerie (Pell James
), to their home. Pastor Sandow confronts Elvis, who shows him a snapshot of his mother Yolanda, with whom he had relations many years ago before becoming a Christian
. Pastor Sandow becomes agitated and tells Elvis that he has a family now and is a popular member of the community. He tells Elvis to call him so they can talk, though later tells his family that the young man simply wanted to become a member of the church and to not associate with him.
Elvis moves in to a local motel
and gets a job as a pizza delivery man. Having met Pastor Sandow's teenage daughter Malerie earlier at the church, he soon begins to pick her up from school where they go on drives and take walks at a local park. They start a passionate affair and have sexual relations on a regular basis. Meanwhile, Pastor Sandow's son Paul leads a high school movement where he attempts to change the school's science curriculum from evolution
to intelligent design
, though his plans are rejected by the school board. Disappointed by this setback, Paul, who leads a Christian rock
band at his father's church, performs an intimate song before the congregation about his frustrations, the song being a cover of Sparklehorse's
"Sad and Beautiful World". Pastor Sandow severely chastises his son for such indulgence. One evening, Elvis sneaks into the Sandow's home to spend the night with Malerie. After they have sex, he leaves the house in the middle of night and is spotted by Paul. He follows Elvis back to his motel and interrogates him about his affair with his sister. Paul threatens to tell his father and Elvis abruptly stabs Paul in the stomach, killing him.
Elvis dumps Paul's body in a nearby pond and returns Paul's car to the Sandow's house. The next day the police are called to investigate Paul’s disappearance and the family becomes distraught. Pastor Sandow believes Paul has run away because of the argument they had about his musical performance. Meanwhile, Elvis continues his affair with Malerie and she soon becomes pregnant. Elvis takes Malerie to the pond where he dumped Paul’s body and reveals to her what happened. Deeply in love with Elvis, Malerie holds his hands and they pray together to God and ask for forgiveness.
After seeing Elvis one day at a traffic light, Pastor Sandow follows him to his motel. Together, they drive to a local archery
range where he teaches Elvis to shoot with Paul's hunting bow. He invites Elvis to dinner where he sits at the family table in Paul's chair. In private, Elvis explains to Malerie that his arrival at dinner is because of his acceptance into her father’s church. Elvis soon moves into the Sandow's home, taking Paul’s bedroom. During a Sunday sermon
, Pastor Sandow's wife Twyla walks out of the church, still distraught over Paul's disappearance and doubting the existence of God. She walks into a busy street of traffic and attempts suicide
, but Elvis saves her from injury. Elvis begins to plant flowers in the family garden, and Twyla compliments him on his work, slowly accepting him into the family. Malerie and Elvis continue to have sexual relations, with Elvis sneaking into her room each night.
One Sunday, Pastor Sandow finally decides to make a confession to his congregation. He reveals that Elvis is his illegitimate son, the product of an affair he had many years ago with his mother Yolanda, a prostitute. Malerie, sitting next to Elvis, is stunned by the revelation and stares at him though he will not meet her gaze. Pastor Sandow asks Elvis to join him on stage and he is accepted into the congregation with enthusiastic applause. Later, Elvis and Malerie are having lunch together. Malerie is repulsed and distraught, but Elvis simply places a paper crown upon his head when she says to him, "We’re going to hell." Elvis attempts to enter Malerie’s room that night but the door is locked. The next day, Malerie embraces her mother in tears in the backyard of the Sandow's home. Elvis, watching from an upstairs window, is greeted by the hateful gaze of Twyla, suggesting that she now knows their secret. Pastor Sandow arrives at his church alone prepared to go about the day's business.
A long camera shot through the Sandow's picturesque home eventually reveals Elvis placing the dead bodies of Malerie and Twyla (whom he presumably killed) on Pastor Sandow's bed. Malerie is still breathing, and Elvis smothers her with a pillow. Elvis then sets fire to the Sandow home. Elvis drives in Paul's car to Pastor Sandow’s church. With blood on his shirt and hands, he walks into Pastor Sandow's office and says to him, "I need to get right with God".
gave it 3.5/4 calling it, “the kind of work where characters develop on their own, without consulting the book of clichés”.
Empire
, a UK film magazine, called it, “A compelling, intelligent and provocative sins-of-the-father story with a terrific ensemble cast, and a standout Mr. Ripley turn by the ever-versatile Gael García Bernal.”
It was screened in the Un Certain Regard
section at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival
.
Cinema of the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has had a major influence on modern cinema. The first moving pictures developed on celluloid film were made in Hyde Park, London in 1889 by William Friese Greene, a British inventor, who patented the process in 1890. It is generally regarded that the British film industry...
and American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
about a troubled man, recently discharged from the Navy, who goes to Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, in search of the father he's never met.
The film is deeply rooted in a Southern Gothic
Southern Gothic
Southern Gothic is a subgenre of Gothic fiction unique to American literature that takes place exclusively in the American South. It resembles its parent genre in that it relies on supernatural, ironic, or unusual events to guide the plot...
style and features themes similar to those in Greek Tragedy. It was written by its British director James Marsh
James Marsh (director)
James Marsh is a film director known for directing the cult film Wisconsin Death Trip starring Marcus Monroe and Sir Ian Holm. He won 2008 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for directing Man on Wire....
and also by Milo Addica, the Academy Award nominated writer of Monster's Ball
Monster's Ball
Monster's Ball is a 2001 romantic drama film directed by Marc Forster, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, and Heath Ledger, and written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos. It was produced by Lionsgate and Lee Daniels Entertainment....
and Birth
Birth (film)
Birth is a 2004 film directed by Jonathan Glazer and starring Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall, Danny Huston and Cameron Bright.The story is about a young widow from a prominent Manhattan-based family named Anna who slowly becomes convinced that her husband, Sean, who died ten years previously, has...
. Starring Gael García Bernal
Gael García Bernal
Gael García Bernal is a Mexican film actor and director.-Early life:García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model, and José Ángel García, an actor and director. His stepfather is Sergio Yazbek, whom his mother married when García Bernal was...
, who received strong critical acclaim for his portrayal of the main character, Elvis, it also stars William Hurt
William Hurt
William McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
and Pell James
Pell James
-Life and career:James grew up in Virginia with three sisters. In the early 2000s, she worked on the hit television series Law & Order and Law & Order:SVU. In 2005, she briefly appeared in the Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers and earned her first starring role for the film The King...
.
Synopsis
A U.S. Navy enlisted man, Elvis Valderez (Gael García BernalGael García Bernal
Gael García Bernal is a Mexican film actor and director.-Early life:García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model, and José Ángel García, an actor and director. His stepfather is Sergio Yazbek, whom his mother married when García Bernal was...
), is discharged and purchases a used car to travel to his “home” in Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi, Texas
Corpus Christi is a coastal city in the South Texas region of the U.S. state of Texas. The county seat of Nueces County, it also extends into Aransas, Kleberg, and San Patricio counties. The MSA population in 2008 was 416,376. The population was 305,215 at the 2010 census making it the...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
. Elvis arrives at the church of Pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
David Sandow (William Hurt
William Hurt
William McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination...
). He watches his sermon from the back of the church and then follows him and his family, including his wife Twyla (Laura Harring
Laura Harring
Laura Harring is a Mexican-American actress and former Miss USA . She is known for her role as Rita in Mulholland Drive.-Early life:...
), son Paul (Paul Dano
Paul Dano
Paul Franklin Dano is an American actor and producer. He has appeared in films such as L.I.E. , The Girl Next Door , Little Miss Sunshine , There Will Be Blood , and Where the Wild Things Are .-Early life:Dano was born in New York City, the son of Gladys and Paul Dano...
) and daughter Malerie (Pell James
Pell James
-Life and career:James grew up in Virginia with three sisters. In the early 2000s, she worked on the hit television series Law & Order and Law & Order:SVU. In 2005, she briefly appeared in the Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers and earned her first starring role for the film The King...
), to their home. Pastor Sandow confronts Elvis, who shows him a snapshot of his mother Yolanda, with whom he had relations many years ago before becoming a Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
. Pastor Sandow becomes agitated and tells Elvis that he has a family now and is a popular member of the community. He tells Elvis to call him so they can talk, though later tells his family that the young man simply wanted to become a member of the church and to not associate with him.
Elvis moves in to a local motel
Motel
A motor hotel, or motel for short, is a hotel designed for motorists, and usually has a parking area for motor vehicles...
and gets a job as a pizza delivery man. Having met Pastor Sandow's teenage daughter Malerie earlier at the church, he soon begins to pick her up from school where they go on drives and take walks at a local park. They start a passionate affair and have sexual relations on a regular basis. Meanwhile, Pastor Sandow's son Paul leads a high school movement where he attempts to change the school's science curriculum from evolution
Evolution
Evolution is any change across successive generations in the heritable characteristics of biological populations. Evolutionary processes give rise to diversity at every level of biological organisation, including species, individual organisms and molecules such as DNA and proteins.Life on Earth...
to intelligent design
Intelligent design
Intelligent design is the proposition that "certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected process such as natural selection." It is a form of creationism and a contemporary adaptation of the traditional teleological argument for...
, though his plans are rejected by the school board. Disappointed by this setback, Paul, who leads a Christian rock
Christian rock
Christian rock is a form of rock music played by individuals and bands whose members are Christians and who often focus the lyrics on matters concerned with the Christian faith. The extent to which their lyrics are explicitly Christian varies between bands...
band at his father's church, performs an intimate song before the congregation about his frustrations, the song being a cover of Sparklehorse's
Sparklehorse
Sparklehorse was an American indie rock band led by the singer and multi-instrumentalist Mark Linkous.-History:Sparklehorse's first album, Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot featuring Bob Rupe of the Silos and Cracker, was a modest college radio success...
"Sad and Beautiful World". Pastor Sandow severely chastises his son for such indulgence. One evening, Elvis sneaks into the Sandow's home to spend the night with Malerie. After they have sex, he leaves the house in the middle of night and is spotted by Paul. He follows Elvis back to his motel and interrogates him about his affair with his sister. Paul threatens to tell his father and Elvis abruptly stabs Paul in the stomach, killing him.
Elvis dumps Paul's body in a nearby pond and returns Paul's car to the Sandow's house. The next day the police are called to investigate Paul’s disappearance and the family becomes distraught. Pastor Sandow believes Paul has run away because of the argument they had about his musical performance. Meanwhile, Elvis continues his affair with Malerie and she soon becomes pregnant. Elvis takes Malerie to the pond where he dumped Paul’s body and reveals to her what happened. Deeply in love with Elvis, Malerie holds his hands and they pray together to God and ask for forgiveness.
After seeing Elvis one day at a traffic light, Pastor Sandow follows him to his motel. Together, they drive to a local archery
Archery
Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow, from Latin arcus. Archery has historically been used for hunting and combat; in modern times, however, its main use is that of a recreational activity...
range where he teaches Elvis to shoot with Paul's hunting bow. He invites Elvis to dinner where he sits at the family table in Paul's chair. In private, Elvis explains to Malerie that his arrival at dinner is because of his acceptance into her father’s church. Elvis soon moves into the Sandow's home, taking Paul’s bedroom. During a Sunday sermon
Sermon
A sermon is an oration by a prophet or member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts...
, Pastor Sandow's wife Twyla walks out of the church, still distraught over Paul's disappearance and doubting the existence of God. She walks into a busy street of traffic and attempts suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
, but Elvis saves her from injury. Elvis begins to plant flowers in the family garden, and Twyla compliments him on his work, slowly accepting him into the family. Malerie and Elvis continue to have sexual relations, with Elvis sneaking into her room each night.
One Sunday, Pastor Sandow finally decides to make a confession to his congregation. He reveals that Elvis is his illegitimate son, the product of an affair he had many years ago with his mother Yolanda, a prostitute. Malerie, sitting next to Elvis, is stunned by the revelation and stares at him though he will not meet her gaze. Pastor Sandow asks Elvis to join him on stage and he is accepted into the congregation with enthusiastic applause. Later, Elvis and Malerie are having lunch together. Malerie is repulsed and distraught, but Elvis simply places a paper crown upon his head when she says to him, "We’re going to hell." Elvis attempts to enter Malerie’s room that night but the door is locked. The next day, Malerie embraces her mother in tears in the backyard of the Sandow's home. Elvis, watching from an upstairs window, is greeted by the hateful gaze of Twyla, suggesting that she now knows their secret. Pastor Sandow arrives at his church alone prepared to go about the day's business.
A long camera shot through the Sandow's picturesque home eventually reveals Elvis placing the dead bodies of Malerie and Twyla (whom he presumably killed) on Pastor Sandow's bed. Malerie is still breathing, and Elvis smothers her with a pillow. Elvis then sets fire to the Sandow home. Elvis drives in Paul's car to Pastor Sandow’s church. With blood on his shirt and hands, he walks into Pastor Sandow's office and says to him, "I need to get right with God".
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Gael García Bernal Gael García Bernal Gael García Bernal is a Mexican film actor and director.-Early life:García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model, and José Ángel García, an actor and director. His stepfather is Sergio Yazbek, whom his mother married when García Bernal was... |
Elvis Valderez |
| William Hurt William Hurt William McGill Hurt is an American stage and film actor. He received his acting training at the Juilliard School, and began acting on stage in the 1970s. Hurt made his film debut as a troubled scientist in the science-fiction feature Altered States , for which he received a Golden Globe nomination... |
Pastor David Sandow |
| Pell James Pell James -Life and career:James grew up in Virginia with three sisters. In the early 2000s, she worked on the hit television series Law & Order and Law & Order:SVU. In 2005, she briefly appeared in the Jim Jarmusch film Broken Flowers and earned her first starring role for the film The King... |
Malerie Sandow |
| Paul Dano Paul Dano Paul Franklin Dano is an American actor and producer. He has appeared in films such as L.I.E. , The Girl Next Door , Little Miss Sunshine , There Will Be Blood , and Where the Wild Things Are .-Early life:Dano was born in New York City, the son of Gladys and Paul Dano... |
Paul Sandow |
| Laura Harring Laura Harring Laura Harring is a Mexican-American actress and former Miss USA . She is known for her role as Rita in Mulholland Drive.-Early life:... |
Twyla Sandow |
Reception and criticism
The great majority of film critics were impressed with the film’s sensitive handling of subject matter. Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave it 3.5/4 calling it, “the kind of work where characters develop on their own, without consulting the book of clichés”.
Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
, a UK film magazine, called it, “A compelling, intelligent and provocative sins-of-the-father story with a terrific ensemble cast, and a standout Mr. Ripley turn by the ever-versatile Gael García Bernal.”
It was screened in the Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard
Un Certain Regard is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's Official Selection. It is run at the Salle Debussy, parallel to the competition for the Palme d'Or.This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob...
section at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival
2005 Cannes Film Festival
The 2005 Cannes Film Festival started on May 11 and ran until May 22. Twenty movies from 13 countries were selected to compete. The awards were announced on May 21...
.