All the King's Men

Surprisingly graphic for British TV, this is the wrenching story of a rifle company composed of estate workers from the King's country home at Sandringham, a sort of perfect Camelot from which men go forth to be slaughtered in World War I. Don't look too hard at the mystery of what happened to this unit, which apparently disappeared into the hell of battle at Gallipoli. More important is the metaphor of the illusion of war-worn "glory" hitting the rerality of modern battle. In much the same way that an egg hits a sidewalk.

Director Julian Jarrold (Emmy-nominated "Great Expectations") makes another richly textured film. Beautifully filmed with high production values, it takes us on an emotional journey through the blunderous battle at Gallipoli. Like the more famous movie starring Mel Gibson and Mark Lee, "All the Kings Men" introduces us to the brave soldiers who enthusiastically volunteered to fight for King and Country in World War I. The cast is excellent (if you enjoyed "Great Expectations," you will see many familiar faces here); the story is heart-wrenching.

As the grandchildren of Queen Victoria all squared up against each other at the start of the Great War, and as the once powerful Ottoman Empire finally shut up shop, the staff at King George V's Norfolk Residence at Sandringham formed their own regiment determined to train and do their part for the war effort. They are led by the fastidious estate manager "Beck" (David Jason) and with the blessing of their royal patron, Queen Alexandra (a rather unremarkable performance from Dame Maggie Smith) set off to the Turkish sphere of operations where incomplete history tells us they were in involved in the perilous and somewhat disastrous Gallipoli campaign. This story is told from a perspective of a search, instigated by the Queen, into just what did happen and there is a familiar collection of faces used to deliver a story of courage and of, frankly, enthusiastic ineptitude at just about every level. David Jason is what we in Britain call a "National Treasure" but mainly as a comedy actor. Here, he seemed rather miscast and for me he failed to really ignite this formidable character as he becomes more of a parody of the stiff upper lip mentality than an exponent of it. It was made by the BBC and though they have clearly thrown considerable resource at this, it still looks and feels like a television movie with little by way of grand-scale illustrative photography of the battle scenes or the scale of the operations, and it's grasp of the horrors of war is just a little too tepid to deliver poignantly enough. That said, it's still a good looking drama that tells an interesting story that could also probably be applied to so many towns and villages across the land who cobbled together their own troops of the ill-prepared, the frightened and the patriotic to go and fight a war about which they knew virtually nothing for officers who had quite possibly all but inherited their commands, and who didn't know a great deal more.

There are basically three aspects of this film to be commented upon. First is the film as a study of social class in early 20th century Britain. When it's in England, the film is set at Sandringham, the home of Queen Alexandra, the widow of Edward VII and mother of George V. The portrayal is of a very warm relationship (prim and proper certainly, but very sincere) between the servants on the estate (and especially Captain Beck, played by David Jason) and the royals. It wasn't a relationship of equals, certainly, but it certainly seemed more than a typical master- servant relationship as well. The film follows Beck's efforts to recruit a company from among the Sandringham servants to go overseas in 1915 during the Great War, and then follows their progress once sent to the Dardanelles to face the Turks. This was the second aspect of the film: as war story. There was some very realistic action scenes, and also a lot of pretty dry material, which probably sums up war and military life pretty well - times of great excitement and even terror followed by longer times of drudgery and monotony. Finally, the film deals with the mystery of the Sandringham regiment - which went off to battle and never returned, with no one knowing exactly what had happened to it, although the film offers a compelling (and probably accurate story) that most of the men were either killed in battle or were executed after being taken prisoner by the Turks. All three aspects of the story were fairly well told; the interspersing of the mystery and its solution toward the end seemed to interrupt the overall flow of the story a bit.

The performances were quite good, especially Jason as the typical (or stereotypical?) "keep a stiff upper lip" British officer, and Maggie Smith's as Queen Alexandra, also trying to keep that upper lip stiff, but portrayed as caring very deeply about the Sandringham regiment and especially Beck, with whom she is described as having a very warm (but proper) relationship.

This being as much about the role of social class as war, it's not your typical war movie, with sustained action and lots of battle scenes. It is, in fact, far from that. It's a very human movie, exploring the intricacies of individual lives and relationships. It's not explicit, but it seemed to me that there was a general point being made about the pointlessness of war and the human cost involved in war - both for the soldiers and those left behind.

It's not a riveting movie. I would say that it accomplishes the purpose it set out for itself, which is more than a lot of movies are able to claim. (6/10)

One of the abiding mysteries of the First World War: What happened to the men of the Sandringham Company, volunteers from the King's estate in Norfolk?

In an age where social rank defined one's behaviour, David Jason stars as Frank Beck, the estate manager determined to accompany his men to the front. Encouraged by Queen Alexandra (Maggie Smith) he defies the King's orders to stay at home. Together, the company faces the horror of war in an unfamiliar landscape, battling beauracratic inefficiency, and a determined and ruthless enemy.

The brilliantly restrained acting by David Jason and Maggie Smith portray perfectly the affectionate but formal relationship between the estate worker and the Queen. This is complemented by the emotional highs and lows experienced by the families left behind. In a vivacious performance by Emma Cunnliffe, Peggy, the Queen's maid, marries her sweetheart just before the departure for Gallipoli. The upper classes are more reserved, but their stories none the less heartbreaking.

This is the BBC at its best.