MY KINGDOM
UK, 2001, 117 minutes, Colour.
Richard Harris, Lynn Redgrave, Tom Bell, Aidan Gillen, Emma Catherwood, Louise Lombard, Paul Mc Gann, Jimmy Mistri, Lorraine Pilkington, Colin Salmon.
Directed by Don Boyd.
Director Don Boyd had met many British gangsters during his documentary career and found that he was attracted to many of them while repelled by their vicious behaviour. Wanting to make a film about this world, he found that rundown Liverpool would serve as the ideal setting. In reading classic literature to find a core for his story, he decided on King Lear. The result is a surprisingly interesting use of Shakespeare and a fairly detailed parallel with the play.
Richard Harris makes a credible patriarch, a ruthless gangster who loves his wife, Lynn Redgrave, but has spoilt his children and set them and their husbands in rackets of prostitution and money-laundering. But he is tired and when his wife is suddenly killed in a mugging, he decides to hand over his empire. We know what happens: the youngest daughter begs out, the older daughters spurn their father and are rivals in greed and in the attentions of a corrupt detective (the Edmund figure). The Duke of Gloucester is now a customs officer pursuing the criminals. The fool is the patriarch's grandson who is wiser than the rest of the family. He also serves as the Edgar figure who accompanies the king out in the storms and when his wits begin to turn.
For those who know nothing of King Lear, My Kingdom would probably come across as an intense drama of cruelty and greed, lust and betrayal which uses the landscapes and landmarks of Liverpool to authentic effect. For those who do, it is fascinating to see how the writers use the play, its plot and its psychology. The cast is strong with television stars Louise Lombard, Lorraine Pilkington and Emma Cathcart as the three sisters, Tom Bell as the customs officer and Paul McGann? and Jimi Mistri (East is East and The Guru) as a sadistic Sikh son-in-law. But it is Harris's film. In many films he has gone over the top in his ranting and raging. Here he remains quieter, with silent screams, yet a depth of pain and disillusionment as he grows older.
1. The popularity of British gangster films in the 1990s and early 21st century? The tradition of these films, conventions?
2. The Liverpool settings, echoes of London? The gangster world, the families, their dealings, drugs, violence?
3. The title, the echoes of Shakespeare, the parallels with King Lear? Action? Talk? The musical score?
4. Richard Harris as Sandeman, the King Lear equivalent, age, character, stature, the patriarch? His life, his daughters, their husbands? His plans? Retirement? His heritage?
5. Going to the church, the concert, in the audience, the phone call, the drug deals? His being mugged? His relationship with Mandy, their walk, her being shot?
6. His daughters, the different attitudes, their involvement in criminal activities, running brothels, prostitution? The bond with their husbands, the husbands and involvements with crime?
7. Jo, the middle daughter, her inheritance, her past, her relationship with her husband? Not wanting the inheritance? The other daughters, Kath and her marriage with Dean? Tracy and Jug? The characters, clashes, relationship with their father? The behaviour at the funeral?
8. The husbands, their backgrounds, Jug, religious and cultural background? His sadism and torture?
9. The Edgar character – the wise fool and advice?
10. Puttman and Quick, police and detectives, the deals? One corrupt, one honest? Setting a trap Sandeman? The Dutch farmers, the Dutch drug deals?
11. The effect on Sandeman, getting older, rejected, his moral and physical collapse?
12. How well did the film work as a gangster story? How well did the film work as a variation on the plot of King Lear?
