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Unequivocally quiet film
- A United Kingdom is an unequivocally quiet film, that shines most when it decides from time to time get a little bit louder.
www.ign.com/articles/2017/02/10/a-united-kingdom-review
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Feb 23, 2017 · No. Fact-checking the A United Kingdom movie reveals that Ruth was hesitant at first, unlike in the film where they feel an almost immediate attraction. They did develop an undeniable connection and shared similar interests, including a love for jazz.
- An unabashedly romantic depiction of the biracial love story that tested the strength of an entire nation.
- Verdict
By Alex Welch
Posted: Feb 10, 2017 9:11 pm
There’s a difficult tonal tightrope being walked on at the heart of A United Kingdom, the new film from Amma Asante, based on the real life relationship between Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo) and Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike). Beginning in London in 1947, we meet Khama while he’s studying law in Oxford, listening to jazz in classy social clubs and preparing to take over the throne of Bechuanaland from his uncle (Vusi Kunene), who’s been serving as regent over the kingdom in Seretse’s absence. Everything is going according to plan until he meets Ruth one night, connecting with her over their shared love of jazz and undeniable chemistry.
Falling in love is the last thing either of them need, but still they spend their nights walking through London into the hours of the early morning until Seretse finally proposes to Ruth, asking her to go back to Bechuanaland with him as his wife. She instantly agrees as the two begin making preparations for their wedding, but there’s only one problem: he’s black and she’s white. Both of their families disapprove, with Ruth’s father threatening to completely disown her at the news, and Seretse’s uncle trying to force him to abdicate the throne should he move forward with his marriage to Ruth.
Many accuse them both of being selfish for seemingly putting their own needs over those of their nation - causing political trouble more costly than if they simply separated from each other. We, as viewers, might agree with those accusations, had Asante, Pike, Oyelowo, and screenwriter Guy Hibbert not acknowledged how inimitable their relationship was. It was the kind that comes along only once in a lifetime, and one that both Seretse and Ruth acutely acknowledge is worth enduring even the most difficult of suffering for. So they stay together, even when it seems like their neighboring African nations and all of the British government are working to try and tear them apart.
To be fair, it’s not the fact that Ruth and Seretse’s marriage is a biracial one that raises the ire of both the people of Bechuanaland and the British government. Hibbert’s script even goes out of its way to explain that, in fact, the reason their marriage caused quite a stir in the United Kingdom was more of a political one. Bechuanaland - a British protectorate - is just a stone’s throw away from South Africa, which at the time of Ruth and Seretse’s courtship was in the midst of continuing to implement the racist laws of apartheid throughout the entirety of the nation. If Britain then looked like it supported Ruth and Seretse being together, it could mean the country losing all access to South Africa’s resources, including its gold, minerals, diamonds, and most importantly, uranium.
Rosamund Pike and David Oyelowo’s performances in A United Kingdom keep the film together through all of its twisty political intrigue, grounding the film with a relationship that makes you understand why it was worth risking everything for.
- Alex Welch
Feb 10, 2017 · Based on the true story of the former king of Botswana and the British woman whose marriage in the late 1940s caused an international uproar, “A United Kingdom” is restrained to a fault. Director Amma Asante hits all the notes you’d expect in tastefully artful fashion.
Mar 24, 2017 · Yes, A United Kingdom centers on a romance, but it is the film’s astute reflections on racial and economic realpolitik that makes it far more than a love story.
Nov 30, 2016 · Film review: A United Kingdom. Ali Roff reviews our film of the month, directed by Amma Asante. A real-life fairy tale, this is the true story of ordinary working-class British woman, Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike), and African prince, Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo).
A United Kingdom is a 2016 biographical romantic drama film directed by Amma Asante and written by Guy Hibbert, based on the true-life romance of Seretse Khama, heir to the throne of the Bangwato Tribe in Serowe – one of many tribes found in then Bechuanaland Protectorate – with his wife Ruth Williams Khama. [ 7 ]
Dec 5, 2016 · A United Kingdom tells the true story of the Khama’s much maligned, highly publicised marriage in London in 1948 and its dire consequences; not only for the couple personally, but also around the political fallout for the British Empire and South African government, which made it even more powerful and poignant.
