The Madness of King George (The Madness of King George) is a British film of Nicholas Hytner released in 1994 . It is adapted from the stage play The Madness of George III by Alan Bennett .
Synopsis
The true story of George III’S deteriorating mental health , and, by extension, the relationship he had with his son , the Prince of Wales , during the crisis of 1788 . Period before the French Revolution , the latter will have consequences in the United Kingdom . Modern medicine has led to the supposition that George III was in fact suffering from porphyria .
Technical sheet
- Original title: The Madness of King George
- French title: La Folie du roi George
- Director: Nicholas Hytner
- Scenario: Alan Bennett according to his piece
- Distribution Company: ARP Sélection
- Country: United Kingdom
- Genre: Historical Movie
- Duration: 107 minutes
- Release date :
- United States :
- United Kingdom :
- France / Switzerland :
Unless otherwise stated or supplemented, the information mentioned in this section can be confirmed by the IMDb database .
Distribution
- Nigel Hawthorne : George III
- Helen Mirren : The Queen Charlotte
- Ian Holm : Dr. Willis
- Rupert Graves : Greville
- Amanda Donohoe : Lady Pembroke
- Rupert Everett : The Prince of Wales
- Julian Rhind-Tutt : The Duke of York
- Julian Wadham : Prime Minister William Pitt
- Jim Carter : Charles James Fox
- Anthony Calf : Fitzroy
Around the film
Theme
The film tackles the theme of the relatively primitive medicine of the time, where doctors made many assumptions to cure the ills of a human body that they understood very little.
It also depicts the diminishing influence of a monarch facing a parliament at the height of his power. The scene in which a doctor compels him to sit shows that, even after many protests, he is obliged to follow the instructions to the letter and accept his diminished role. After his recovery, he is seen at the end of the film explaining to the Prince of Wales that the role of the royal family is to be seen by being happy, to greet the crowd, and to be a role model. people, behaving in the best possible way.
Title change
By adapting the play to the cinema, the title was changed from The Madness of George III in The Madness of King George . Some rumors claimed that the initial presence of the Roman numeral “III” might have led people to believe that the film was just a continuation of the play. These claims were soon denied by the director, Nicholas Hytner , who simply declared that the name had been chosen because the subject revolved around the king, and that is the position he wanted to put forward.
Filming locations
In addition to the Shepperton studios , the film was shot in the following locations:
- Arundel Castle ( Arundel , West Sussex )
- Bodleian Library ( Oxford University , Oxford )
- Broughton Castle ( Banbury , Oxfordshire )
- Eton College ( Eton , Berkshire )
- Royal Naval College ( Greenwich )
- St. Paul’s Cathedral in London ( London )
- Syon House ( Brentford , Middlesex )
- Thame ( Oxfordshire )
- Wilton House ( Wilton , Wiltshire )
Anachronism
The film is located in 1788 . Yet when the king studies his possessions in North America with his prime minister on a globe, and complains of having lost settlements, it is found that the map represents the continent after the sale of Louisiana ( 1803 ) and the treaty of Adams-Onís ( 1819 ).
In the first scene of the film, when dressing the king for the opening of Parliament, the panel shows the royal arms composed only of the arms of England, Scotland and Ireland, while the English rulers also carried the weapons of France until 1801 .
Awards and Appointments
Oscar of the cinema
The film won the Oscar for best artistic direction in 1994 . He has also been nominated for Best Actor Oscar ( Nigel Hawthorne ), Oscar for Best Supporting Actress ( Helen Mirren ) and Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay .
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
King George’s Folly was named fourteen times at the BAFTA but received only three:
- Alexander Korda Award for Best British Film
- Best actor for Nigel Hawthorne
- Best hairdresser / makeup artist for Lisa Westcott .
Cannes Festival
- Helen Mirren received the Best Actress Award in 1995
- Nicholas Hytner was in the running for the Palme d’Or , that year’s Emir Kusturica for Underground .