The King's Coronation (2023) - A Film Review
On the occasion of the King's birthday this Saturday, here is a revisit of my review of the 2023 Coronation that had the nation watching - or not - in the context of a movie or TV production.
At once a remake, a reboot, and a sequel - as is à la mode in Hollywood these days - The Coronation presents itself as the next big thing to watch. But as is often the case with these kind of franchises fighting for our attention, the marketing makes a far bigger deal of the film-as-event than the piece itself merits.
Needless to mention how much has changed since the 1953 original, so it's not entirely fair to compare the two versions. One can appreciate what an event release the 1953 version was, but looking back makes you realise how poorly it has aged in pretty much every aspect. Even the premise of the plot seems irrelevant compared to today's standards, and yet the same standards are still applied to the 2023 version; albeit slightly loosened to draw in the crowds.
And what crowds! There's no end of interest in the franchise nor would the Studio dream of dropping it considering the ratings. Not just in the U.K. - The Coronation is as much an export as the rock band Bush, the one other British export that has more fans in the U.S. than it does on home ground. So it's no surprise they keep the product going.
The plot is entirely predictable. No spoiler to say that, yes, the King does get his crown; it’s in the title after all. One creative decision had me intrigued was to cast a male in the lead role, switching over from the female original. I'm not sure what the drive behind that was when modern remakes and sequels are mostly hiring women to take over the roles men once played. Is this a backlash against wokeness? If so, I look forward to the Alien remake in which Ripley is played by a bloke; the natural progression of which of course means that in Aliens, the alien Queen will actually be a King.
What's missing from this latest production is the prestige of someone like Laurence Olivier who narrated over the previous The Coronation. Instead we get stuck with a voice-over by Huw Edwards (in the English version) who clearly went method and improvised his lines.
Nevertheless the list of cameos makes for a fun game of who's-who bingo, with an international cast of names most audiences likely won't even register.
The amazing props and costumes really add definition to the symbolism the makers are trying to put forward; even I was almost convinced they were real! The scale of it all gives it a Kubrick-ian feel, but on a very sobering Cameron-esque – James, not the other one - budget.
Apparently the lead actor who plays the King wanted a more stripped-down and modest production. Not that any of that is noticeable here, likely due to pressures put on by the Studio Execs to make this as big and pompous an event as possible. And it shows, but one must wonder at what cost and whether the timing really is appropriate when there's an industry strike currently dragging on.
The supporting cast particularly stand out, playing Prince and Princess - though I can't help feel the Studio Execs forced the writers to shove these characters into the plot to guarantee further sequel opportunities. I was more interested in the subplot of the neglected brother, which unfortunately didn't get much of a mention in this feature, probably not to distract from the main storyline. But I wouldn't be surprised if it ended up as, I don't know, a mini-series on Netflix or something.
The timing is odd and a bit of a risky release, considering how much more there is to watch out there at the moment. An Island In Decline is simply heart-breaking and doesn't make for casual viewing. Cold War 2: This Time It's Personal is probably the more worthy sequel to pay attention to. And who could ignore the gripping reality-series America which effortlessly ramps up the storyline from one episode to the next.
Yet you can't fault the Studios for knocking this one out considering the amount of interest and support there is for these movies. As long as the people keep turning up and waving the flag for such releases, we're gonna keep getting 'em.
The Indies will of course complain of the Studio's mass expense and aggressive take over of the marketspace, and ask for fairer distribution of content that provides what the ticket-payers ask for. But over the last few years the Indies haven't exactly been delivering the sort of content audiences want or need with any kind of market efficiency. Any criticism towards one can equally be applied to the other.
The film does grant us something positive to take away: a worthy discussion on art and meaning. Whether it's a Studio production or an Indie, is there really any inherent power in the story, in the actors, in the props and costumes and locations? Or perhaps the only meaning is that which we project on to it, consciously or not, granting whatever power we allow it to reflect back at us.
Did you watch The Coronation (2023)? Are you celebrating the King’s birthday this weekend, whether in the U.K. or not? Great! Have fun! I don’t need to hear about it in the comments.
But I’d love to know what else you’re watching this weekend, whether at the cinema or at home.
If you liked this post and reckon someone else might too, please feel free to share!
And finally, if you haven’t yet, I’d love for us to talk about actual films (not just pretend ones like 2023’s The Coronation) so if you haven’t subscribed, you can do so quickly without even needing the Substack app:
Thanks for reading!
I heard that they made this film as a spin-off of a really successful sit-com. I think it's called The Crown? But they couldn't get any of the cast from that to sign on for the movie so they used a bunch of amateurs...and it showed.