Exciting , old-fashioned war epic with solid and inspired interpretations, based on the Pierre Schoendoerffer's book and script written by director John Milius himself , in which there's a lot of the flavoursome spirit of Joseph Conrad (who wrote Darkness heart , the prestigious novel written in 1900) and brought to the screen in lavish budget and colorful visual style . An interesting war picture told in the style of Joseph Conrad and Rudyard Kipling set in Borneo, 1942 : A ship-wrecked American soldier -Nick Nolte- getaways WWII and becomes the king of the Bornean headhunters in the jungle. Two British soldiers are parachuted into the area to enlist the jungle tribes for the fight against the Japanese . The American is reluctant to rejoin the consequent fight against the Japanese on the urging of a British commando team -Nigel Havers , Frank McRae , Marius Weyers-. As the jungle kingdom is caught between the forces of the US and Japanese . Then the King conducts a war of revenge when the Japanese attack his adopted people. In the midst of war, one man vanished into the jungle, and emerged as the Bornean king !.
This is a thought-provoking and intelligent story that catches the imagination in much the same way as Joseph Conrad's adventurous novels based on wandering heroes in the Far East . This Farewell to the King (1989) is based on a novel by Frédéric Schoendoerffer , titled¨L'Adieu Au Roi¨, he was a notorious French director and screenwriter , adept at shaping modern audience expectations of what authentic war films should look like , he was a former army reporter and photographer in Indo-China and Cambodia, taken prisoner at the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. The prestigious novel has been simplified for easier compression , appreciation and nicely developing . However , this novelist disavowed the ambiguous and complaisant final . This stirring adventure flick contains thrills , action in the jungle , intrigue , wonderful outdoors and breathtaking battles that are imaginatively , vividly staged . Excellent acting by Nick Nolte in the title role , he's really impressive as the American deserter who is adopted by a suppressed Borneo village as its leader and he becomes king of the tribe . Movie's biggest moments provided by the great acting carried out by a stunning Nick Nolte whose character has much in commom with Joseph Conrad's Lord Jim who long time ago was played by Peter O'Toole . Both stories contain blood brothers , jungle environment and thoughtful themes . While co-starring Nigel Havers is awesome as a narrator and the brave soldier who lives through part of the story , giving his best movie acting as the botanist turned officer whose mission is to find local support for the battle against the Japanese. Supporting cast is frankly sensational , such as : Frank McRae , Gerry Lopez , Aki Aleong , Marius Weyers , James Fox, Richard Morgan and John Perry as General Douglas McArthur .
It displays an epic and sensitive musical score by Basil Poledouris . Evocative and exotic cinematography by Dean Semler , shot on location in Hawaii, USA , Malaysia, Borneo, Bau, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. Directed and screen-played with compelling style by John Milius , though it had a tepid reception . Milius is a fine writer/director so consistently mixed the good and average which it became impossible to know that to expect from him next . The motion picture was professionally directed by John Milius but he stated that making this film was one of the worst experiences he had due to the dangerous shooting amid monsoon ambient and risked conditions in the wild jungle . He is a notorious screenwriter and filmmaker with several hits , specially on adventure genre as ¨Jeremiah Johnson (1972)¨, ¨Conan¨ , ¨Red Dawn¨, and also made biography as ¨Dillinger¨ , making two films about Theodore Roosevelt , ¨ The Wind and the Lion¨(1975) and ¨Rough Riders¨ (1997) . He was partially the basis for the character of Walter in the cult classic ¨The great Lebowski (1998)¨. Rating ¨Farewell to the King(1989)¨: Good and entertaining . Compassionate thinkers , lovers warfare genre , and pacifists will all find satisfaction here .
