Monarch (2000)

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

I came across this film after seeing it advertised at a film festival. I missed it as it was sold out. I caught up with the film later and found out it had been lost for a while and the director John Walsh was giving the inside story on what happened.As a film maker myself I was fascinated by this story of the making of this low budget costume drama and the story of the film too. Set in a wintry night an injured King Henry VIII comes to what appears to be an abandoned or at least closed up house. What happens next is an indie Agatha Christie style story. The shooting style and performances are somewhat unique to this film and really work in the stormy night context. Stand out performances from TP McKenna ad Henry VIII and Jean Marsh as one or more of his former wives.What film maker John Walsh did with a tony amount of money and little more than a two week shoot is impressive. A costume drama that has something to say about the current state of things.

At a time when special effects are king it is good to see some old fashioned story telling at work here. That's not to say the approach or the subject are in any way stale. This re telling of a final days of Henry VIII is done with much aplomb from director John Walsh. This is the first big screen outing for this director who was only twenty 26 when he wrote directed and produced this mini epic.The film had been lost for some time and recently it has be found, cleaned and given a modern HD rebirth, all to the good. This is one to watch late one night (stormy preferably to get the full effect.For many small budget first time efforts, it is a gore fest of young people bed hoping or gangsters swearing, spitting and fighting, so good to see John Walsh here making the effort and enlisting the considerable talents of the great T.P. McKenna playing a thunderous Henry and Jean Marsh playing an exquisitely restrained Queen, but which one?Suffice to say if you have any interest in this period, this is worth a look.

The British have always had a fondness for incognito Kings. Part of the appeal of the story of Alfred burning of the cakes is that the lady who tells him off doesn't know who he is. And of course it was Shakespeare who wrote one of his finest scenes on the nature of kingship with one Henry IV disguised among his soldiers. The British have also had a liking too for Gothic mysteries, a tradition that began with Matthew Gregory Lewis's THE MONK and continues ad infinitum with tours of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW. Put these traditions together and you have a winner.John Walsh's debut drama of 2000, MONARCH, now beautifully restored by Freemantle and the team at Premier Post, is a fascinating combination of these two story strands. The film explores a brilliantly simple situation. King Henry VIII has taken refuge in an empty manor house following an apparent assassination attempt whilst on the road. Empty that is except for one lowly servant boy. A strange figure though lurks in the background. It's a premise that inevitably raises many questions. Is the King's life still in danger? Who can be trusted? Is the house all it seems? And who is the mysterious man in black? John Walsh takes all these dramatic questions and with the addition of the necessary elements of macabre and menace, plus the cinematic techniques of high angle camera work and chiaroscuro contrast lighting, turns MONARCH into a truly enticing mystery. Add a ghostly visitation and you're now in truly in the Gothic cinema tradition.At the centre of the film is TP McKenna's stunning performance as King Henry. Of all the cinematic Henrys this is both the most human and the most convincing. The scene with the boy servant, Will, who does not realise that Henry is king is beautifully observed by both McKenna and Mark Montgomerie. Here is a man and monarch approaching the end of his life who trusts no one, especially not those employed to keep him safe, taking time to confide in and share thoughts with one of his lowliest subjects. Yes, the plot of the film is a whodunit, or more accurately a 'who-will-do-it', but at its heart what the film is about is a dying man facing up to himself and his past. And his ghosts.We don't actually see much of Henry at the start of the film. We begin with those who have ridden with him on the ill-fated journey that led to some sort of attack on Henry, a group Henry is very suspicious of. Well, if I had been Henry I wouldn't have trusted his entourage either. They all seem to be a bit of a scheming bunch out for themselves. Their bitching and bickering are reminiscent of the underlying camp menace that pervades the James Whale classic Gothic mystery THE OLD DARK HOUSE. Even the jewellery gets in on the act. Never has a dangling crucifix ear-ring on a man-servant portended so much threat and foreboding.The film was apparently shot in two weeks on a low budget of under fifty-thousand pounds. The extras on the DVD offer a fascinating insight into what can be achieved with just sounds effects and there are very instructive lessons in how to turn an active community day centre into a Tudor manor house with just black drapes to make morning into night. The golden rule with low budget film making is always turn your limitations to advantage. This is exactly what John Walsh does with his location set, Charlton House in Greenwich. Walsh utilises every nook, cranny, attic and even chimney of the magnificent house, making each room almost another character in the unfolding drama. The door creaks too almost seem to have secrets unwilling to be told. The whole feel of the movies has an authenticity that Hollywood certainly couldn't match.I suppose the ultimate question though on whether a film is any good is does it stay with you? Spielberg often speaks about not just the experience of watching a movie but also the "processing" that goes on after. MONARCH is a film that certainly stayed with me. The strong images (including one of cinema's most graphic killings) are certainly memorable but it shouldn't be forgotten that at the film's heart is a human being facing his end. It is a great credit to John Walsh that this young debut film maker handles this central theme with such maturity and understanding. A great watch strongly recommend.

Monarch is an impressive debut for BAFTA winning documentary director John Walsh. At first appearance this looks like a run of the mill costume drama, but the sparse location careful lighting and efficient use of money and sound effects brings an eerie quality to a film, which although shot on a low budget, does not fall into the trap many of Walsh's peers appear to have in recent years. Brit gangster flicks are almost a prerequisite for a British directorial debut these days. Opting for this historical retelling of one night in the life of Henry VIII shortly before his death John Walsh has managed to convey a grand story of a dying King in an intimate and poignant way, with a few chills along the way.Much of the sparseness can be attributed to the low budget yet this simply adds to the tension and feeling of emptiness in a Monarch who as lived with excess. Lighting and music are both careful and complex. The camera is confident a brave in many sequences allowing the story to unfold rather than driving the camera and Walsh avoids the hand-held horror of most first time feature directors, opting for a more considered and Kubrick like composition of each shot.Lighting by ex-Kubrick alumni Ray Andrew (camera operator on The Shinning) heightens the sense of a dark, damp historical past. You can almost smell the damp, yet the lighting and careful flesh tones and Walsh's composition is reminiscent of painter Caravaggio.The support players are good here too, feeling as through they have been at the court of Henry for some years are themselves ready to give up the ghost. Female cheaters are sparse here but their impact is powerful. Jean March from "Willow" and "Upstairs, Downstairs" impresses as a ghostly amalgam of Henry's past wives. Walsh has brought new life to an up to now, well trodden piece of English history.The plot is simple yet effective. A grand house closed for the season when one night the injured ruler is brought in and slumps by the grand fireplace. Henry is without the power and control of his palace and is vulnerable from those around him, and from his own sanity.TP McKenna towers as Henry VIII with on screen chemistry of the Jean Marsh putting a chill down the spine of most viewers. It is somewhat of a shame that little gems like this are not given a wider viewing. I look forward to what John Walsh can next offer up.