Iam not sure anyone but Nigel Hawthorne could have brought such qualities tothis role.
#Moons of madness imdb how to#
Reduced fromgrandeurto a sad little old man, he finds that his mind has cleared, and "I haveremembered how to seem myself." The sequence during which he pulls himselftogether and astounds Parliament is triumphant, and funny. Itis only when strings are pulled to reunite the king with Queen Charlotte thatthe pieces fall into place. The king resists, aghast that a commoner would so treat theroyal personage: "I am the verb, sir! I am not the object!" Holm isperfect for the role - stern, unyielding, and dotty. Willis, whose approach seems to embody someof the theories of modern psychology, tries to break the king down so he canbuild him up again. " On that farm he hopes to shock the king into sanity, and the king isshocked, all right: George: I am the king! Willis: No, sir! You are thepatient! The battle of wills between these two strong men is the centerpiece ofthe movie, and hugely entertaining. The kingperforms royally upon the pot, but, as a doctor observes sadly, "One mayproduce a copious, regular evacuation every day of the week and still be astranger to reason." (Future historians were able to deduce from themedical records that George's mental state was caused by porphyria, a metabolicimbalance.) What saves the king, at least for a time, is the materialization ofa man named Willis ( Ian Holm), who has revolutionary ideas about mental health.During a period of George's greatest confusion, the serious face of Willisswims into view, along with his portentous words: "I have a farm. Medicalscience at the time could not offer much help: Great attention is lavished onthe condition of the king's stools, and particularly their color.
And the loving, loyal QueenCharlotte ( Helen Mirren) is denied access to her husband by the Prince of Wales- a cruel, foppish man, who complains, with a prescient bow to the presentholder of his title, "To be Prince of Wales is not a position - it is apredicament." All of this could be the material for a solemn historical biopic,but Bennett's play, and the direction by Nicholas Hytner, are more lightheartedthan analytical, and the performance by Nigel Hawthorne as the ailing king isbarbed and yet lovable: Madness burns in his eyes, but also sweetness andvulnerability, and when he lashes out at his court and accosts its ladies, wesense his suffering. Fox'sarchenemy William Pitt ( Julian Wadham), the king's loyal prime minister,schemes to keep George and his policies in power.
The Prince of Wales ( Rupert Everett) schemes with the oppositionleader Charles Fox ( Jim Carter) to displace his father ("If a fewramshackle colonists in America can send him packing, why not me?"). Thefilm shows both court and parliament acutely attuned to the weathers of theking's mind. Helived on until 1820, blind and hopelessly insane the last 10 years of his life,but the film wisely focuses on his middle age, when there were periods ofclarity, and he struggled bravely to keep his wits and his throne. The king is 50when the action takes place. When George forces his court to sit through aninterminable session of "Greensleeves" being rung on bells, and thenasks to hear it again, troubled looks are exchanged: The king is losing it.ĪlanBennett's play, now filmed with its original stage star, Nigel Hawthorne, stillin the title role, is a fond portrait of this befuddled old man. His Queen, Charlotte, keeps up abrave front ("Smile and wave! It's what you're paid for!" she hissesat the Prince of Wales). He awakes before dawn, runs in hisnightshirt through the fields, pounces on a lady-in-waiting - and, worse still,cannot remember the names of his enemies. He presides over an Establishment that wishes him gone - his ownson, the Prince of Wales, waits impatiently in the wings - and over a courtscandalized by his erratic behavior. Thefilm opens in 1788, some years after the American colonies have thrown offGeorge's rule.
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