a lot of information hidden from his audience, as a viewer you're constantly looking at the film with questions in your head. From the beginning when main character Elvis meets pastor David Sandow and his family, you assume to know what's going on and what this secret is they both share. A little scene that follows and in which David's wife seems to have come to learn about the secret, enhances the feeling of you knowing what's going on. But because it's not until somewhere near the end that the secret really is revealed, you keep questioning your own assumptions. Elvis never lets anything shine through and you're not sure what his actions really mean and what it is he's after. After seeing the film you're not quite sure what you should think of everything that happened and wonder what Elvis has achieved by doing everything he ended up doing and why. Gael Garcia Bernal who plays Elvis, portrays Elvis wonderfully. He's calm and never comes off as a violent or angry person, but is quite the opposite. Still you feel this sort of fear everytime he's present on screen, because you constantly have the feeling he's after something. But because you don't know what his intentions really are, he's this person you're not able to read and who can act in very unexpected ways. Bernal captures this part of his character brilliantly and gives a very solid performance. William Hurt who surprised in A History Of Violence, in which he was very strong, again shows he's a very gifted actor. He really knows how to set up a character and like Elvis as a viewer you come to fear him. His presence is very dominant and looking at his face you can see his determination and know that if you would ever want to change his beliefs you couldn't. The power of his faith shines through in his eyes, which is quite scary. Besides these great performances and the way the film creates suspense, the story is quite simple. It's really the way it is brought that makes it different from other similar stories. This is all too bad, because it makes the film less satisfying then it could have been. Because of the story you don't know whether you should really be cheering for the film, which is a very good one, or not. The story could have been made more interesting, perhaps, which would have taken away your doubts of whether or not see The King as a great film or just a nice effort, with nice ideas and twists, but which never really succeeds and leaves you feeling it could have been much better.What Is It About?
A young guy, Elvis Valderez, who has just left the Navy comes to visit the town of pastor David Sandow. Not sure whether he is aware of this or not, he comes to meet David's young daughter whom he speaks to briefly asking for her name and who he later meets again when walking up to David and his family who are sitting in their family car. Not sure why Elvis has the urge to meet this man, it soon becomes clear there's a secret which involves Elvis mother.
Not sure what this secret is and what Elvis intentions turn out to be once he and David's daughter, Malerie, come to meet more frequently and eventually fall in love, things go seriously out of hand when Malerie's brother finds out about the two secretly meeting. Their father warned them not to speak to Elvis, but Malerie has definitely crossed the lines. Never quite sure whether the outcomes of the actions which follow happened to be the way Elvis intentionally wanted them to happen, Elvis comes to destroy David's family, which turns out to have never been the perfect family their fellow citizens thought it was.Final Verdict: ***1/2
It's pretty difficult rating The King as it leaves you with this feeling of not quite knowing whether you liked what you saw or not and if it could be said to be really good or bad. The King is a film that provides you with this great suspenseful feeling from beginning to end, but the ending itself is one that kind of ticks you off, confusing you in a way which makes you question whether you like it or not. The ending is abrupt, being more open than really closed, even though all the events that had to happen to lead the film towards its ending did happen. It's not that you are really left with answers concerning the plot. The film makes you
question Elvis intentions and what it is he achieved by doing all that he ends up doing, but as far as the events are concerned there is indeed closure. The King definitely sets itself apart from other films with a smiliar story by the way it sets its story up and carries it out. By the time some of the events happen which have drastic results for David and his family, as a viewer you're already are left with this feeling of disbelief, not quite sure whether the events really happened or not. Director James Marsh really manages to create this feeling effectively, causing the film to have this somewhat eerie feeling, making it to be somekind of psychological thriller. Some might therefore really like the film and applaud its choices, but some, like me, who also liked it, still also happen to have this feeling of not knowing what to think of it. The film in that way becomes quite difficult. However, it might also be said that The King is very succesful in its intentions as it obviously wants to have its audience question Elvis' intentions and wants to leave the audience with this awkward feeling. This feeling itself comes to set up questions and ends up making you think about the film long after the end credits. This thus is why The King feels like a tough one. I still liked it and feel it's already great the way it is, but it also leaves me with this feeling things could have been made a little more clear, which would have made the film to feel to be more structured and be perhaps a bit better than it now feels to be.
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