Film No. 95 (2022) November 13th. 3.00 PM Cinema 2. LUNA, Leederville.
"A feeling is something you get when you sit on a bus seat and it is still warm!". (A university executive suggests that Langley needs to provide more than her belief that Richard III is buried in a carpark).
Nominee : Best Leading Performance (Sally Hawkins) British Independent Film Award 2022.
This could be a fairy tale but the nub of The Lost King, is totally true - Phillipa Langley did indeed find the bones of King Richard III under the tarmac of a company carpark in Leicester. Here is Phillipa's story.
Phillipa's is a feel good story and in the hands of Stephen Frears (PHILOMENA'S STORY) this tale takes us on a journey where a mother, wife, middle-manager and everyday woman conquers challenges set by others, to exhume the bones of the much (possibly the most) maligned king of England. And in the hands of star Sally Hawkins (Langley) the film is a pleasant indulgence indeed. The camera loves Hawkins and Frears uses every ounce of her talent in this feature.
As expected some licence is taken to compact the story into 110 minutes. The real time frame of Handley's vigil was seven and a half years. The drama of her arm-wrestle with the bureaucracy of the Leicester University, in receiving funds and gaining rightful recognition, is in dispute. So it may be a case of why let the odd fact get in the way of a good story. Given this, co-writer Steve Coogan (Hawkin's co-star as husband John) first saw Handley's story presented as a documentary and always felt she was under-recognised for her achievements. Coogan, it must be noted, is a man of exceptional integrity on the international film landscape.
The story of Richard III and how he came to be under the tarmac of a carpark is a many layered yarn in itself. Many of the historical facts are explored and the aside of Philippa interacting with her imaginary Richard helps to give insight.
THE LOST KING is an entertaining, "tick the boxes" retell of an extraordinary true story. I enjoyed my Sunday afternoon in the hands of Sally Hawkins alongside family and friends with a choc bomb in hand. 9GUMS.
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