"The Last King" is the title of the DVD we are able to rent in the USA. It is divided in two parts, each around ninety minutes. I understand it was not just condensed from the original U.K. version, it was bowdlerized. Considering what was left **in**, whatever A&E Network took out must have been pretty steamy stuff!
Rufus Sewell's masterful performance gives even us republican Americans a hankering for a nobility you can admire. Charles II had the qualities of a king including an imposing physical presence yet apparently was a sensitive man, even an affable one, and like many, he was defenseless against a woman's tears.
Let me add my voice to what many here have remarked. The cast of characters is enormous. Not unlike a soap they appear, reappear, are gone again. As they seem all to be Dukes, Earls, Countesses or Lords, it's easy for someone unaccustomed to titles to mix them up. The elaborate costumery does not help matters--the ten-pound wigs act as effective disguises.
When you see it for the second time and can concentrate on identifying the characters, it's more worthwhile.
The Countess of Castlemaine was nineteen years younger than Charles II. Helen McCrory, who plays her, is one year younger than Rufus Sewell and looks rather older.
Rufus Sewell's masterful performance gives even us republican Americans a hankering for a nobility you can admire. Charles II had the qualities of a king including an imposing physical presence yet apparently was a sensitive man, even an affable one, and like many, he was defenseless against a woman's tears.
Let me add my voice to what many here have remarked. The cast of characters is enormous. Not unlike a soap they appear, reappear, are gone again. As they seem all to be Dukes, Earls, Countesses or Lords, it's easy for someone unaccustomed to titles to mix them up. The elaborate costumery does not help matters--the ten-pound wigs act as effective disguises.
When you see it for the second time and can concentrate on identifying the characters, it's more worthwhile.
The Countess of Castlemaine was nineteen years younger than Charles II. Helen McCrory, who plays her, is one year younger than Rufus Sewell and looks rather older.