The King (2019)

Starring: Timothée Chalamet, Robert Pattinson, Joel Edgerton 
Directed by: David Michôd, most famous for directing a western set in Australia and a political satire. He co-wrote this with Joel Edgerton AND with William Shakespeare so he’s clearly a flexible director. Netflix released this in another attempt at prestige film, but it seems to have gone mostly unnoticed despite good marketing. 

Started it during winter break and finally finished it today. It’s two hours and a half hours and mostly long shots of silence. I feel justified

It’s a mashup of Henry V Shakespeare and actual historical events - British crown feuding with Frenchmen, young Henry becoming king, and the famous Battle of Agincourt. 

Joel Edgerton plays a disillusioned knight - a version of Falstaff from the play. Seems to be where the lion’s share of original material is concentrated. Shakespearean Falstaff is the drunk friend who’s fun, but deeply bad for you. This film’s Falstaff is a drunk lots of the time, but only ‘cause he’s so messed up from war, and he sobers up once the plot starts.

Agincourt is pretty cool. They go full Narnia for it - lots of bodies and fighting. Notably try to keep it as unglamorous (but effective) as the real Agincourt. 

Robert Pattinson only has three scenes, all in the last half, but he kills every second of screentime. If you’re not convinced he can act enough to be Batman, look this up.

There’s a long duel at the beginning that’s pretty gripping. Like MMA meets Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. 

Overall, pretty interesting. Pretty violent a few times, but no sex, no swearing, and a depiction of an age we don’t often see