'The Lost King' Movie Review: Intriguing whimsical drama

A still from the movie, `The Lost King`

Film: The Lost King
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Steve Coogan, Harry Lloyd, Mark Addy, James Fleet, Lee Ingleby, Adam Robb, Benjamin Scanlan
Director: Stephen Frears
Rating: 3/5

This Stephen Frears-directed film is based on a true story (detailed in Philippa Langley's excellent book The Search for Richard III) about the amateur historian who defied the academic establishment in her efforts to find King Richard III's remains, which were lost for over 500 years.

Already fascinated by the Richard III story after an experimental performance of the Shakespearean play, Philippa (Sally Hawkins in her most memorable role yet) sets about correcting historical wrongs by stepping on academic toes with her path-breaking research that owes it's journey to a pamphlet put out by the Richard III Society exhorting its readers to work towards changing the way history views this much-maligned monarch.

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Following the events in 2012, the narrative outlines how Langley somehow, as a private citizen unconnected to a university, managed to commission an archaeological dig at a location in a random car park in Leicester, hoping to find Richard III's grave.

She relies on medieval maps and accounts of Richard III's burial from people who were actually there in 1485, to narrow down that location. Philippa's two young sons think she might be going mad while her cordially estranged husband (Steve Coogan) is generally worried about the financial burden he might have to bear. The narrative is rather whimsical as it makes Philippa's emotional drama central to the telling of this story.

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The film imagines an affair between Philippa and Richard's ghost in an attempt to underline Philippa's total commitment to the cause. Alexandre Desplat's score quietly heightens the emotional weight of that supposition while Sally Hawkins' skilful embodiment lends depth to the idea of a tragic romance.

The result is intriguing and interesting enough and is likely to appeal to an older audience fascinated by all things historical.