Rating: 
Summary: A brilliant movie, worth the viewing of a king
Review: "The Last King" showcases the often-disputed kingship of Charles the Second. This movie is made with the introspection and lyricism found on the stage while bringing to that the professional look and feel of the big screen. But most impressively, this A&E production is fair to the universe of difficulty in deciphering Charles II. He was a difficult person to comprehend, as we all are. And to determine what to put to film can prove a tough task. Often, it is too easy for filmmakers when trying to organize a cohesive representation of a large figure (i.e., Charles II, Napoleon, Joan of Arc) to rely on one point-of-view, to romanticize or to take complete liberty in order to make a life understandable. This film, on the other hand, shows its audience a Charles that is both sex-crazed and loving, patient yet quick to anger, lazy in some politics, yet highly motivated in others, selfish, yet selfless, and overall a sort of complicated man. The acting is superb from everyone, as many reviewers have already noted. Rufus Sewell is absolutely brilliant as Charles II, Helen McCrory turns Barbara Villiers, the Countess of Castlemaine and mistress to Charles II, into a wonder. And you can't help fall in love with the queen, Catherine of Braganza, played by Shirley Henderson. Her religious devotion (which in lesser hands would have been turned into a quaint trait.) is actually admired by watching this film. Too often films that have religion as a major underpinning rely on standardized cliches.) But this movie does not. It is as difficult as the story must be while keeping it comprehensible. One reviewer claimed that you must read about Charles II before watching the movie. I disagree. Though the movie can be enhanced by knowing just a simple bit about him, (http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon49.html) you don't need a primer. It is easy to follow. This movie does justice to what is often exceedingly difficult: Trying to get to the essence of a man. It does as fine a job as any other of the great pieces that tried to do the same before it, "Gandhi", "Lawrence of Arabia", "Nixon", and "The Passion of Joan of Arc." It sounds like an exaggeration, but it is not. This is a fine film, worth the 3 hours and 10 minutes of viewing. I wished it were longer, and perhaps moved into the politics that preceeded the death of Charles II's father. Plus -- for those of you that buy the DVD -- there is a scene where Charles comes out in all his royalty to address Parliament. It is truly stunning. More stunning than watching Elizabeth addressing the lords in the movie "Elizabeth." Sure, there are things that the movie cuts out and does not address, but I believe they did a good job in hitting the main points.
Rating: 
Summary: The Last King
Review: A bit of information to add to J. Bowring's most helpful review:
Amazon.co.uk sells both this cut-down A&E version of the series and the full four-hour BBC version. HOWEVER if you search on "The Last King" you will find only the A&E title you see here. Why? Because the BBC release is titled simply "Charles II." Film distributors learned the hard way that when American audiences see a number after a title they assume it is a sequel! So British releases like this or "Edward VII" and "Madness of George III" are retitled for American release.
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant period drama, this version has been cut
Review: Brilliant period drama as only the BBC can produce. 17th century England and the return of Charles II to the throne after the English Civil War. Fabulous costumes and sets. Rufus Sewell wonderfully captures the subtleties of this most interesting monarch who is caught between Parliament and his desire to rule absolutely, between Protestants and Catholics, between decadence and puritanism, between his Queen and the need for an heir and his many mistresses. Unfortunately, the original drama is 4 one hour episodes and A&E has, for some reason, cut one episode's worth of programming which may make it difficult to follow. It is a terrible shame to take a minute away from this classic and the reason I will order this from the BBC and obtain a region-free DVD player...Five stars for the WHOLE drama, 2 for this A&E version.
Rating:
Summary: The Merry Monarch
Review: Fans of the Restoration period will be delighted with this BBC dramatization of the reign of England's king, Charles II. The film begins with Charles (Rufus Sewell) still living in exile, and then it swiftly moves to his return to England in 1660. The story touches on the political troubles faced by Charles during his reign, but the politics of the day share equal space with the trials and tribulations Charles experienced at the hands of his many mistresses. "The Last King: The Power and the Passion of Charles II" selects a handful of the King's mistresses for this film--the more famous ones--Barbara Castlemaine, Nell Gwyn, and Louise de Keroualle. The Queen's, (Catherine of Braganza) often-problematic relationship with Charles is also analyzed in quite some detail.All the acting is top-notch. Rufus Sewell as Charles II, Shirley Anderson as Catherine of Braganza, and Rupert Graves as the Duke of Buckingham--are perhaps the most engaging members of this glittering cast of players. While many of the actors and actresses did not match my visual idea of their historical counterparts, the superb acting soon cast aside any marginal doubts I had. The costumes are sumptuous, and the sets excellent (with only a few cheesy spots during the Fire of London). The aging of Charles II is handled most adeptly. However, with all the good points to the film, I would add that a basic knowledge of 'who's-who' in the period is essential. The film does not yield explanations, so the viewer had better have a context to place the action in, or you may stand to be hopelessly lost. Also, this film chose to concentrate its focus on the women in the king's life. My ideal mini-series about Charles II would probably last somewhere between 20-30 hours and include much more biographical information, and exploration of the political events of the age. While the film does an excellent job, many fascinating aspects to Charles' character are not covered here. That is most unfortunate--but unavoidable given the time constraints. I was particularly disgruntled that Rochester had such a tiny role. But my little peevish grumbles aside, I have to acknowledge that the film was quite wonderful. The DVD extra includes interviews with many of the major cast members. I often dislike these sort of interviews as I am usually disappointed, but in this case, the actors presented very intelligent interpretations of their characters, and this extra feature was worthwhile--displacedhuman
Rating:
Summary: great- but not long enough
Review: great period piece of a my fav english period-- wish it was longer- so many characters of the king's court and time were so interesting to study, it would take many hours to tell the stories and i would sit through all of them. great acting esp. sewell.
Rating:
Summary: Spectacular! Breathtaking! Mesmerizing!
Review: I just finished sitting through the whole four hour version of this film. It was breathtakingly beautifully filmed and the story was totally mesmerizing. Each character was totally believable and I was swept away and caught up in the plots and intrigue and all the goings on through the whole film. The acting is superb. The costuming and filming is wonderful, and I am left with wanting so much more! I do not know how true to history it was, but I am going to try to find out for sure now (although I realize even the telling of history has its spin, no matter where one goes!). The way this is presented it leaves one with many areas worth discussion. Is there a divine right of kings in matters of succession? How did the hatred of Catholicism impact British history? How would history be different had James stayed on the throne and there been no parliment? or even if there had been a parliment, but a Catholic monarchy? How has the law of Britain only having a protestant monarch impacted history? How does the balance of power between monarchy and parliment really work? If nothing else, this is a gorgeous costume drama worth watching. But me, I will have fun with following up on all of my questions!!!!
Rating:
Summary: THE LAST KING - Left Me Wanting More...........
Review: I thoroughly enjoy every single minute of this film. I happen to love historical and period movies so this is extremely entertaining as far as I am concerned. I gave it to my sister to watch to see what her take would be on it and she loved it also. She is not into period films as much as I am. We both agreed that we admired King Charles and his commitment to his legacy and that of his brother. This was a constant battle for him and it seemed no one could be reasoned with. I believe he tried to be fair and that it was very difficult for him to have to punish people he admired and knew to be innocent but was in fact required to do so. I was not fortunate enough to have seen the A&E full on Miniseries so I didn't know I was missing anything. However, as my title for this review indicates, I was sorry when it was over. Anyone who likes history will love this film. I am happy I got it but feel cheated now that I know the original runs another hour longer. Why do they do that with these great films??? I don't get it. I think anyone would be willing to pay a little more to have the whole thing. Maybe the editing people are all relatives and they want to keep them employed...Anyway, I do recommend this film as I can honestly say I would rather have seen this cut version than not to have seen it at all.
Rating:
Summary: A BBC Masterpiece!!
Review: I was channel surfing one night and happened to come across The Last King on A&E and have been obsessed with it ever since. This is truly a masterpiece!! The casting is wonderful. The acting is brilliant. The costumes are gorgeous. The writing is captivating. Every time I watched it, it was just as wonderful as the time before. I opted to buy the DVD because I felt cheated when I heard it was a 4 hour drama. A&E only had it as a 3 hour. What wonders did I mess out on?! There is nothing about this series that I didn't like. It had the right balance of politics to help understand what a King's duties are-without making it dry and boring. There's enough tasteful romance in it to keep it racy without being obscene. I was impressed with the historical accuracy. You CAN make a period drama interesting without compromising it's integrity. I cannot say enough about this drama. It is perhaps the best movie I have ever watched!! My only question: Did the king love the queeen? Is that the reason he stayed married to her? I can't wait until I get my copy so I can watch it again!!
Rating:
Summary: The Last King - The good and not good
Review: I will start off by saying that I would recommend this dvd to anyone who is interested in the life of King Charles II, as it is a lavish and interesting production. Overall, it is very good and quite fun!!
My disappointment comes partly because A & E apparently has cut off one hour off from the mini-series. (you are left wanting more and wondering just what you must have missed!) ERRR!!! What can be noted is that "The Last King" is not historically accurate at times, events that I know didn't happen (through reading the biographies of King Charles and others), or happened at different times in the King's life, appear here. I can understand that a historical drama needs flow, and it doesn't mar the production overall. I would highly recommend doing more research into the many books available on Charles and others. I loved Rufus Sewell and his performance, it is a MUST SEE for any fans of his. He is absolutely magnificent, and a handsome guy to boot. He really makes King Charles come alive.
I felt the mini-series focused a bit **too much** on the antics of Barbara Villiers (Lady Castlemaine) and the Duke of Buckingham. Okay, okay, okay, I get the point, they are delightfully wicked, vile, and conniving, now let's move on already? Enough is enough, and too much is camp. Charles was such a nice guy, what was he ever doing with her, you may think? (I guess this is where that complicated aspect of his character kicks in! LOL)This is really not a show you would watch with the kiddies, as there are *suggestive* (okay, a little more than that) scenes. Catherine of Braganza comes off as a totally sweet and noble character, never quite saccharine or cloying, which is a bonus. Frances Stewart is fine as a character caught in the manipulations of a licentious court.
Nell Gwyn comes across *okay*, and maybe it was the actress playing her, but she didn't really come off as sympathetic to me. A little spiteful and immature, in my opinion.(I wanted to see more wit and less high school, like, you know, snarkiness) Okay, so she had nice legs and a fine wit, and obviously amused Charles, but I am left wondering of the appeal of some of the mistresses (okay, all of them)in the production. It's not necessarily the production's fault! (these women were who they were, that cannot be changed!) An actress with more grit and drive should have played Louise Keroualle, who, yeah, was **majorly** high maintenance, haughty, and greedy, but in not a delightful, "the girl can't help it" way portrayed here. Hey, girlfriend, ENOUGH! Poor Charles, what he had to put up with! But then again, he asked for it! (you could be shaking your head at this point in the production wondering about the state of Restoration male/female relations) Whew!!!! I REALLY wanted to see more of his relations with his family, very interesting characters in their own rights. (I don't know, were there more scenes with his family in the 4 hour version? I really cannot say!)Maybe if they focused LESS on Lady Castlemaine they could have included more characters, or focused a bit more on them.
Diana Rigg was wonderful as the Queen Mum though I thought she was really less rigid and more sympathetic in real life. Just me, I suppose, but the haughty matriarch makes for smashing good t.v. (LOL) The parts concerning Charles' son the Duke of Monmouth could have been better, as you may see. (I believe some scenes to be pure fiction, but check it out for yourself!) What would have been interesting to see was Charles' life BEFORE he was restored to the throne in 1660. It would have been nice to see more of his relations with his children, or extended family members.
I definitely wanted to see more of Minette, Charles' beloved little sister and the woman who REALLY captured his heart. Her own life could make a great mini-series! A fascinating Stuart princess! This is a very good production overall, and I would really recommend buying it (it's a nice romp through restoration times!) I would of course recommend buying some other books,(for balance and perspective) such as Antonia Fraser's "King Charles II" (MUST, MUST READ!!!) "My dearest Minette" Letters between Charles II and his sister, the Duchesse d'Orleans. (MUST READ)
Rating:
Summary: Do Not Buy this DVD
Review: It's a terrific miniseries, I would highly recommend watching it.
But DO NOT buy this DVD - as another reviewer notes, A&E has cut an hour from the series for no apparent reason. Maybe they just think North Americans are to stupid to watch more than three hours of a series. Or maybe they wanted to save on costs.
Amazon.co.uk sells the BBC version, a full 240 minutes, in Region 2 and VHS. Or buy directly from the BBC itself. Just don't support this company in continuing to butcher series and then use their monopoly to shove it down our throats.
|
