The Madness of King George (1994)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Nicholas Hytner

Writers:

Alan Bennett (play)
Alan Bennett (screenplay)

Release Date:

28 December 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | History

Tagline:

His Majesty was all powerful and all knowing. But he wasn't quite all there.

Plot:

A meditation on power and the metaphor of the body of state, based on the real episode of dementia experienced...

Plot Keywords:

King George III | Porphyria | England | King | Marital Problem

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 14 wins & 18 nominations

Cast

Nigel Hawthorne	...	George III
Helen Mirren	...	Queen Charlotte
Ian Holm	...	Dr. Willis
Rupert Graves	...	Greville
Amanda Donohoe	...	Lady Pembroke
Rupert Everett	...	Prince of Wales
Julian Rhind-Tutt	...	Duke of York
Julian Wadham	...	Pitt
Jim Carter	...	Fox
Geoffrey Palmer	...	Warren
Charlotte Curley	...	Amelia
Anthony Calf	...	Fitzroy
Matthew Lloyd Davies	...	Papandick
Adrian Scarborough	...	Fortnum
Paul Corrigan	...	Braun

Also Known As:

The Madness of George III (Australia)
The Madness of King George III (Australia)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements.

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Brazil:14 | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIA | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Arundel Castle, Arundel, West Sussex, England, UK

Company:

Channel Four Films

Trivia:

Nigel Hawthorne - a relatively inexperienced cinema actor most of whose work up till then had been confined to the stage and TV - was so keen to reprise his award-winning stage role for the movie version that he took the part of the villain in Demolition Man (1993) just to prove that he had screen presence. As it transpired this was unnecessary as Hawthorne was the producers' automatic choice for the lead.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The King refers to a litter of pigs as "Tamworths", but that name was not given to the breed until around 1810.

Quotes:

George III: Six hours of sleep is enough for a man, seven for a woman, and eight for a fool.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Just a Minute: (#3.2)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

Zadok the Priest

Exceptionally well-made and exceptionally incomplete

This is an exquisitely made film about a sad figure in British history, King George III, who spent much of his reign locked away in a private mental institution. Now, researchers and historians believe that the "madness" was caused by the effects of Porphyria--a rare condition in which a person becomes allergic to sunlight.

This film concerns only a very small portion of his long reign. You see George at first as a capable and decent man, but slowly he becomes tough to manage and irrational. What is very interesting but tough to watch are the ways that the barbaric doctors try to treat his malady. Ultimately, by the end of the film, George seems to have recovered and the audience is left to assume everything was peachy from that point on, but this was NOT the case. His mental condition continued to wax and wane for decades and ultimately, his son George IV became ruler long before he was actually crowned because his father was too incapacitated to rule or even be trusted to care for himself.

A very sad true story that was too briefly explored in this film.

An interesting post-script. While George was reasonably rational when the Revolutionary War began, his mental impairment must have affected his reasoning even then. You wonder if maybe the whole situation might have been dealt with much differently if the king had truly been in his right mind. For example, when the Prime Minister, Pitt the Younger wanted to show leniency towards the colonies and reconcile, he was not supported in this by the king. Who knows?!