- Actors: Jack Davenport, David Oyelowo, Tom Felton
- Disc Format: AC-3, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
- Language: English (Dolby Surround)
- Subtitles: French, Spanish
- Dubbed: French, Spanish
- Region: Region A/1
- Number of discs: 2
- Rated: PG-13
- Studio: 20th Century Fox
- Release Date: June 6, 2017
- Run Time: 111 minutes
Though restrained in its scenes of large
emotional outbursts and rousing speeches, A
United Kingdom faces the unfortunate problem of being released the same
year of another subtle interracial romance based on true events. Loving was so expertly made without the
need of melodrama or sentimentality that even sparsely used in A United Kingdom, these moments ring a
bit contrived. Along with teary speeches and somewhat contrived feel-good
moments, there is also a redundancy in Guy Hibbert’s screenplay and a
surprising blandness in Amma Asante’s visual style, so that the one-note themes
of A United Kingdom begin to wear
thin, regardless of how convincing the chemistry is between the leads.
The performances
are what carry the film, even when the film feels a bit perfunctory. There is
little work in the meet cute between Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo) and Ruth
Williams (Rosamund Pike). She is a humble clerk from a working class family and
he is the prince of Botswana
studying law in Britain,
but their union feels natural due to the collaboration of the leads, often
saving the film from an uneven screenplay. There is little to no conflict in
their actual relationship; from the moment they are joined, it is clear that
they are committed to a life loving each other. The drama of the narrative
comes from the outside world unwilling to accept their union.
This first comes
in the form of run-of-the-mill racism in Britain, primarily by average
citizens shocked at the sight of a white woman in love with a black man. Even
Ruth’s family disowns her in the decision to marry Seretse. Unfortunately, this
is only the beginning, as the people of Botswana have nearly as much
difficulty accepting their future king taking a white woman as his bride. And
even as the people of Botswana
begin to accept their new queen, and Ruth’s parents eventually come around, the
British government uses the controversy to fuel their own political agenda
against Seretse. By pushing the rightful king out of Africa, the British
government hopes to gain control over newly discovered mineral wealth in Botswana.
These conflicts
keep Ruth and Seretse apart for many years, and the film begins to lose its
impact and direction as it struggles to include each step of the true life
journey. The romance of these two people clearly had an incredible impact on
history, but the effort to portray that cinematically often takes away focus
from the heart of the film, which is the connection that they shared. While the
story is truly touching, it is Oyelowo and Pike who breathe life into an
otherwise by-the-numbers cinematic experience.
The Blu-ray
release comes with a DVD and Digital HD copy of the film, which will suffice in
a pinch. There is not enough visual storytelling (or even beautiful photography
of the African landscape) to truly make use of the high definition
presentation. The special features include a featurette on the locations of the
shoot in Botswana,
many of which were the actual places that the events took place. There is also
a more generic promotional making-of featurette, as well as one about the real
Seretse and Ruth. The last extra is footage from the London Film Festival
premiere of the film.
Entertainment Value:
7.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 8/10
Historical Significance:
6/10
Special Features: 6.5/10
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