I cannot fathom the utter disdain heaped upon this ultimately important film. I was outraged upon seeing the Internet Movie Database rating of 3.2. Why? KINGS AND DESPERATE MEN is not, by any means, light entertainment or a mindless thriller. It requires the viewer to privately observe our own causes in relation to the ignorance of the masses. It successfully personifies existentialist thought, where the crusaders try to rationalize an irrational world, and to no avail. The masses will continue to turn a deaf ear until something else strikes their fancy, all within a society based solely upon outward appearance.
Perhaps the other reviewers watched the film because of Patrick McGoohan and Alexis Kanner being reunited after THE PRISONER. Again, this film is, by no means at all, light entertainment and cannot be seen just on the surface of a light thriller. Why this film has gone unrecognized for so many years, I do not understand. Only one mainstream critic, by name Charles Champlin, could identify with it. Leonard Maltin dislikes cinema verité in the first place (as I have seen in so many of his reviews of John Cassavetes films) to pass an objective rating on a verité work such as this. The sound editing is flawless in portraying a film of patrons fully willing to die for a cause. The cinematography chillingly portrays the icy landscape of a Montreal winter, and the graininess of it all adds so much atmosphere. All of these devices suit the film to a tee.
Most of all, this film tells a noble story, accented by a cynical protagonist who seems oblivious to the danger he is in. Patrick McGoohan was excellent and, regardless of what you read in Maltin, he did not overact at all. If I had power in Hollywood, I would reissue this film, just so it would gain wider recognition. But, as portrayed in the film, the masses will turn a deaf ear and the film will perhaps never get a just reception.
**SPOILER ALERT**
The camera captures December 23rd in Montreal. Traffic is deplorable and people are rushing through the streets. And over everything is the voice of radio station JXYL. "Englishman's Englishman" radio jockey John Kingsley (Patrick McGoohan) is interviewing a judge who has recently passed down a controversial sentence to a man for vehicular homicide, the victim being a policeman. All of this is intercut with snide, sharp wisecracks of a group of people in a small car. Following this, the judge is kidnapped, Kingsley's wife and son are held hostage in their apartment and Kingsley himself is held at gunpoint in his studio and told he must let their leader, history professor Lucas Miller (director Alexis Kanner). What follows is sharply edited filled with crisp dialogue and a few scenes of suspense for good measure (e.g. Kingsley waiting for his captors to dose off so he can fetch one of their guns). The "re-trial" goes on the air and their plan starts to go awry.
This film is effective to the final fade-out. Even the end credits are pithy. The streaming images of Christianity (i.e. shots of churches, a child singing hymns and Miller and Kingsley singing 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen') are particularly potent.
You cannot watch this film once and leave with the full picture. I have watched it five times and still catch little nuances with each viewing. For those of you who "didn't get it," try again. For those of you who find this worse than a hangover, keep on drinking.
Perhaps the other reviewers watched the film because of Patrick McGoohan and Alexis Kanner being reunited after THE PRISONER. Again, this film is, by no means at all, light entertainment and cannot be seen just on the surface of a light thriller. Why this film has gone unrecognized for so many years, I do not understand. Only one mainstream critic, by name Charles Champlin, could identify with it. Leonard Maltin dislikes cinema verité in the first place (as I have seen in so many of his reviews of John Cassavetes films) to pass an objective rating on a verité work such as this. The sound editing is flawless in portraying a film of patrons fully willing to die for a cause. The cinematography chillingly portrays the icy landscape of a Montreal winter, and the graininess of it all adds so much atmosphere. All of these devices suit the film to a tee.
Most of all, this film tells a noble story, accented by a cynical protagonist who seems oblivious to the danger he is in. Patrick McGoohan was excellent and, regardless of what you read in Maltin, he did not overact at all. If I had power in Hollywood, I would reissue this film, just so it would gain wider recognition. But, as portrayed in the film, the masses will turn a deaf ear and the film will perhaps never get a just reception.
**SPOILER ALERT**
The camera captures December 23rd in Montreal. Traffic is deplorable and people are rushing through the streets. And over everything is the voice of radio station JXYL. "Englishman's Englishman" radio jockey John Kingsley (Patrick McGoohan) is interviewing a judge who has recently passed down a controversial sentence to a man for vehicular homicide, the victim being a policeman. All of this is intercut with snide, sharp wisecracks of a group of people in a small car. Following this, the judge is kidnapped, Kingsley's wife and son are held hostage in their apartment and Kingsley himself is held at gunpoint in his studio and told he must let their leader, history professor Lucas Miller (director Alexis Kanner). What follows is sharply edited filled with crisp dialogue and a few scenes of suspense for good measure (e.g. Kingsley waiting for his captors to dose off so he can fetch one of their guns). The "re-trial" goes on the air and their plan starts to go awry.
This film is effective to the final fade-out. Even the end credits are pithy. The streaming images of Christianity (i.e. shots of churches, a child singing hymns and Miller and Kingsley singing 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen') are particularly potent.
You cannot watch this film once and leave with the full picture. I have watched it five times and still catch little nuances with each viewing. For those of you who "didn't get it," try again. For those of you who find this worse than a hangover, keep on drinking.