A UK (2016)

Directed by Amma Asante ("Belle") this is the true tale of a real-life fairy story, featuring a handsome prince and his love, who can never be his princess thanks to the Machiavellian scheming of court-do-gooders and bureaucrats. 

The prince in this case is Seretse Kham (David Oyelowo, "Selma") , heir to the throne of Bechuanaland (now Botswana), who meets and falls in love with a lowly white Lloyd's of London clerk Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl", "The World's End"). The plot has many parallels with that of another film from earlier this year:  "Loving" with Ruth Negga and Joel Egerton. As an inter-racial couple in 1947 this is taboo enough, but the fact that Kham is soon to be king in a country bordering the apartheid tinder-keg that is South Africa blows the affair up to be a diplomatic crisis.

Defying the officials he marries his true love, driving a wedge between both his own uncle (Vusi Kunene ) and sister (Terry Pheto) and making Ruth an outcast in both countries. As things turn from bad to worse, can true love conquer all their adversities?

Just everything about this film delights. Oyelowo and Pike - always a safe pair of hands - add real emotional depth to their roles. Their relationship feels natural and loving without either of them trying too hard. The estrangement of Ruth from her parents (particularly her father played by Nicholas Lyndhurst) is truly touching. 

Another star turn is Harry Potter alumni Tom Felton, playing Rufus Lancaster - a weaselly and very unpleasant local official. I have a prediction.... that in 30 year's time, the young Potter actor that will be the 'Ian McKellen of his day' (that is, a world recognized great actor... not necessarily gay!) will be Felton.  

Sam McCurdy ("The Descent") delivers cinematography of Africa that is vibrant (to be fair, for anyone lucky enough to visit Africa will know, cameras just love the place) and the John Barry-esque music by Patrick Doyle ("Murder on the Orient Express") is pitch perfect for the mood.

A beautifully crafted film that older viewers will just love. 

(For the graphical review, please visit http://bob-the-movie-man.com or One Mann's Moview on Facebook. Thanks).

Fmovies: I had never heard of this story, so it was fascinating to learn about it through the movie. What was interesting was that while the heart of the film was Oyelowo and Pike's relationship, it wasn't necessarily the focus of the movie. The first half features them falling in love and marrying, and the second half is about the political repercussions, and the Botswanans attempts to gain independence from the British. It's almost as if everyone in the film used the relationship as an excuse to act on tensions that had been building for years. So in that regard, I was surprised. The performances are also brilliant. David Oyelowo absolutely shines in this film. I think he was ultimately better in Selma, but he turns in an A-grade performance that unfortunately is being overlooked. I do think Oyelowo outshined Pike, but she was still very good. The two had excellent chemistry, and worked beautifully together on screen...

6.8 does not do justice to a film that tells a story of how love can overcome boundaries. In this case, this is one of the rare African stories that we tend to get to hear about. For a long time, stories to do with Africa have been about disease, poverty and undernourishment. Asante's take on this film does indeed tell the viewer that there is more to Africa than what meets the eye.

I believe that this film should set a precedent for more African stories to be told . This film tells you that there is a lot more than just about Mandela. There is need to learn about other Africans namely Jomo Kenyatta, Hastings Kamuzu Banda, John Chilembwe and many others. These are perhaps some of the few names that I can think of. I commend Asante for taking a bold stand in producing a film of a figure(s) that most people out there may have not heard.

For those of you that may want to get a different side to Africa, I would recommend that you begin by watching "A United Kingdom". In my view, it is one of the more decent films of 2016/17 combined.

A UK fmovies. In the hands of a lesser director than the hugely talented Amma Asante, "A United Kingdom" might have been nothing more than another inter-racial romance cloaked in a veil of sickly sentimentality but, like "Belle" before it, this remarkable film works both as a genuinely moving love story but, more significantly, as a powerful political tract that draws attention to a very shameful period in recent British history with neither the Tory nor Labour governments coming out of it smelling of roses.

It is the story of Seretse Khama, heir to the throne of Bechuanaland, now Botswana, who, while a student in London, fell in love with and married Ruth Williams, English and, more crucially, white bringing her back to his homeland as his queen, much to the chagrin and disapproval of both the British and South African governments and his own people. However, like all good love stories, if not quite all fairy tales, Ruth's tenacity soon wins over the people of Bechuanaland while the jaundiced, racist government of the UK proves a somewhat greater obstacle.

The events portrayed in the film actually took place but until now haven't't been much discussed here in the UK. Even today inter-racial love stories can be unpopular and sadly racism remains a major issue that has yet to be eradicated. It is testament to both Seretse and to Ruth that their actions were finally instrumental in bringing democracy to Botswana with Seretse renouncing his kingship and becoming the first democratically elected president of his country.

In these roles both David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike are superb and there is sterling work from an outstanding supporting cast. If the feelgood factor seems at times a tad on the heavy side in Guy Hibbert's screenplay it is still heartening to see a movie about love and about race that is largely unsentimental and politically astute. It is also gorgeously shot by Sam McCurdy and is a credit to all involved.

I love it when a story is told that many of us haven't heard of or known much about.

Although possibly oversimplified due to the necessity of keeping the movie within a normal viewing time, nonetheless, it's a very good story about an amazing piece of history.

Well acted, well directed and beautifully filmed, this is a film I'm very happy to have seen. It's an inspirational look at enduring love and intelligence, at people power and a nation's faith in their leader, as well as credibly showing yet again how the British Empire and their bevy of crooked prime ministers deem to destroy nations for greed and profit, and to boot, having the gall to treat anyone but themselves as underdogs.

An excellent film for what it is and I would recommend it.

A United Kingdom is a true and gripping tale which handles it true historical source material with aplomb. With fantastic performances from Oyelowo and especially Pike, the central characters plight is beautifully illustrated. It's not perfect; some of the writing is a little clunky, but the character chemistry is there, and you leave the movie theatre feeling like a part of the story.

Quite how this movie receives the rating it does is completely beyond me. I can only imagine that half the voters didn't in fact see the movie.