The King

A breakthrough film by young director James Marsh. This film had me hanging on with bated breath just wondering where it was going. I was totally unprepared for the end, which was dynamite! Gael García Bernal (Babel, The Motorcycle Diaries) was understated but powerful as a young man just getting out of the Navy and going to look for his father, a pastor played by William Hurt (A History of Violence). Bernal was the product of a sinful life Hurt led before he "found Jesus." He starts a relationship with his half-sister, Pell James (Broken Flowers). You are wondering the entire time about motivation, danger, incest, pregnancy, and the inevitable end. It is not pretty, and it may be difficult for some to take, but I thought it was brilliant.

It was creepy, but Bernal was outstanding in only his second English-language role.

Just saw this film as part of the Seattle International Film Festival and I found it very well made. I go to plenty of festival films and most are truly dreck. This was a nice surprise. While the story goes a couple of steps too far in terms of reality, viewed as old fashioned Greek drama, it was quite exhilarating. The story hits many high points and keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering when characters will catch up with the audience. The acting among the principal players was highly consistent with the characters they set up and were actually believable when circumstances became overly dramatic -- even the daughter's actions made some sense when considering her "place" in the family and how much she was actually marginalized by her father. I would also say that Hurt deserves another nomination after the one he got last year for "The History of Violence" (another true gem). Plus, Bernal gives his most convincing performance yet -- very smart of him NOT to play this character in a very obvious way!

This is a nasty piece of work. It's also an impressive piece of work, a sour and cynical dark comedy of a twisted kind of Americana by the young British director James Marsh, making his feature film debut. Elvis, (Gael Garcia Bernal), gets out of the navy and heads off in search of his daddy, the man who sired him and then abandoned him. Daddy, once a sinner, has now reformed and is a preacher with his own church. Bit by bit Elvis worms his way into the family circle, taking no prisoners on the way.

There are moments of shocking, unexpected violence and you are always left with a nasty taste in the mouth but at the same time, you are never quite sure which way the film is going to turn. In some respects it's a bit like Pasolini's "Theorem" but when I spoke to the director at the Dublin Film Festival he said he had never seen "Theorem", (but surely he must have known what it was about?), but did admit to being influenced in part by Dennis Potter's "Brimstone and Treacle".

It's a deeply unpleasant little picture but it is very well directed, (it feels unpolished, unfinished, rough around the edges which is just as it should be), and both Gael Garcia Bernal and William Hurt as his preacher father are superb. Bernal is like some beautiful, rotten fallen angel. Is he seeking redemption or total damnation? Hurt, too long in the doldrums, is on a run at the moment. With this, and Cronenberg's "A History of Violence" under his belt, he is very much back on form. See it certainly, but don't expect to be entertained.

Probably one of the most F**KED up movies I have ever seen!!! None the less it is a gripping emotional film with a strong message about finding what is really important in your life, and treasuring it.

The persona of the entire church community made me chuckle, because it reminded me so much of my own church community. Secrets hidden within every corner of the church and everyone willing to cast the first stone at a sinner.

I really enjoyed the movie, but when I was walking out of the theater I was depressed more than any other movie has ever depressed me. Bernal gives a stunning performance that just seems to twist your stomach into knots.

THE KING (2006) **1/2 Gael Garcia Bernal, William Hurt, Pell James, Laura Harring, Paul Dano. Disturbing and dark morality tale about a young man (Garcia Bernal continuing to be his generation's Brando) coming into the lives of a pastor (Hurt in one his best roles of his career) and his family, claiming to be his long-lost son and attempting to fulfill his birthright with deadly results. Novice filmmaker James Marsh (who co-wrote the screenplay with Milo Addica) gets the message across in a decidedly clumsy and hard-to-swallow histrionics yet the talented cast outshines the film's downward spiral of despair. James, best known as the only female who treated Bill Murray with civility in "Broken Flowers", proves to be a young talent to watch suggesting a latter day Diane Lane.