Monarch

Injured in a fall, King Henry VIII is taken to an isolated house accompanied by 'loyal' staff - however an assassin is within. Away from court Henry is vulnerable and sees visions of his wives and contemplates his life with the groundskeeper's son.

Interesting oddity which although more televisual than cinematic is nicely written, with TP McKenna strong as the dying king. Absorbing and worth catching if you enjoyed the BBC Tudor series The Six Wives of Henry VIII or Elizabeth R which are similar in tone.

I missed this film the first time round, but this just making 'finding' it now all the more intriguing. This is a cleverly simply story set in one stormy night in a house. There is a break in and then things start to kick off. Sounds like the outline for a low budget crime thriller right? No – this is period costume drama set during one night in the life of English King Henry 8th. The one who killed almost all of his wives.

From a grunge indie inception to a full blow 35mm cinema experience this film certainly challenges the perception about first time feature films and their directors. John Walsh was 26 when he wrote, produced, directed and edited this mini epic.

The cast is headed by Irish acting legend, the now late TP McKenna as King Henry and a ghostly appearance of Jean Marsh as one more of his former wives. Given the tight budget and innovative style, I would like to see what Hollywood makes of him.

If anyone knows how to make films about kings and queens, it the British. I wasn't wrote sure what to expect from this tale as I knew the story of Henry VIII and had read that this version had been lost for some time. It appears the camera negative was misplaced and now it has been found. This is all to the betterment of the film and the film maker, who in the DVD extras explains what happened.

The story of an abandoned manor house where an injured Henry comes to seek refuge was no doubt one that was convenient for a film maker looking for an economic way to tell his tale. Once the film is underway you feel a real sense of damp presence and foreboding haunting. The mix of performances (with TP McKenna coming out clearly on top) makes this an unusual experiences but one that I can recommend. A change from the usual costume fare, this is one to be watched with the drapes closed and the doors firmly locked!!

Henry VIII is arguably the most interesting monarch of all time, it's fair to say he had a colourful existence. Monarch mixes up real life events with fiction, and delivers a totally intriguing watch.

It's one of those films I didn't like initially, and I almost switched it off, I found some of the production a little cheap looking, and found the house way too modern for the period. However, those minor flaws quickly passed when TP McKenna began his performance as The aged King.

There isn't often a lot of focus during the end of the King's reign, by now he would have been incredibly sick, and in very poor health. I love how this characterisation battles his demons, having to answer to one Queen, a combination of all six wives. Jean Marsh was fabulous.

Lavish costumes, and sets, which although sparse seem to work. You can see there wasn't an enormous budget to hand, but I felt the director did an excellent job.

Thoroughly enjoyable. 7/10

I came across this film after seeing it advertised at a film festival. I missed it as it was sold out. I caught up with the film later and found out it had been lost for a while and the director John Walsh was giving the inside story on what happened.

As a film maker myself I was fascinated by this story of the making of this low budget costume drama and the story of the film too. Set in a wintry night an injured King Henry VIII comes to what appears to be an abandoned or at least closed up house.

What happens next is an indie Agatha Christie style story. The shooting style and performances are somewhat unique to this film and really work in the stormy night context. Stand out performances from TP McKenna ad Henry VIII and Jean Marsh as one or more of his former wives.

What film maker John Walsh did with a tony amount of money and little more than a two week shoot is impressive. A costume drama that has something to say about the current state of things.