Neil Doyle THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE shows us how mad the ruler of England became at some point in time due to an illness doctors knew little about.How his illness is treated is at the core of this story, when King George III is assigned a doctor (IAN HOLM) to use whatever means are necessary to restore sanity. All the while, court intrigue has everyone in parliament conspiring about appointing a Regent to take over the King's duties. His son, the Prince of Wales (RUPERT EVERETT) is more then willing to replace his father on the throne.Much of it is played for fine comic effect with many nuances and comic timing in spite of the seriousness of the central character's illness. NIGEL HAWTHORNE recreates his London stage role, playing the part of the mad king to perfection. HELEN MIRREN is highly satisfactory as his wife who wants nothing more than to see him make a complete recovery and RUPERT GRAVES is fine in one of the more low-key roles as one of the King's supportive aids.As usual in all of these British historical pieces, the settings, costumes, photography, art direction--all are exquisite. The photography is a marvel at suggesting that only candlelight illuminates many of the scenes so that it's like watching a series of fine paintings come to life. Effective use of Handel's music provides solid support throughout.

Gordon-11 This film is about the chaos caused by King George's medical condition, which leads to transient but unpredictable psychosis.I must commend Nigel Hawthorne's acting. His portrayal of being manic and psychotic is very real and convincing. He makes his character as King George believable and brings him to life. The part where he delusions about London flooding is funny and sad at the same time. The plot build up is also good, with hints of porphyria being put in little by little. Doctors at that time did not know what it was, but fortunately we do now! It's a pity that the copy I viewed showed signs of aging. Colours seem to be fading and less sharp. I think I would have enjoyed the film more if it was not so.

Lee Eisenberg I had never known about King George III before "The Madness of King George" came out, but what I saw in the movie sure blew me away. I would say that George's mental state, more than anything, is an example of what happens when these monarchs refuse to marry outside their boundaries: they end up with all sorts of problems.But even ignoring that, the movie does a fine job showing what happened. And they know that even when dealing with a serious topic, there's always room for a joke or two (and not particularly clean ones). Through their performances here, Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, Ian Holm, and the rest of the cast all reaffirmed themselves as some of the greatest actors of our era.As for what I wrote in the 5th grade history class. We were studying the American Revolution (you may recall that George III was king at that time in history, and some people blamed his mental state for the loss of the 13 colonies). I wrote a story about two brothers in Virginia arguing about whether or not to break away from England. One of the brothers called referred to "good King George", and the other called him "mad King George". A lame joke, I admit, but that's what I wrote.

david-2603 Watched this again yesterday & once more was enraged at the injustice of Nigel Hawthorne missing out on the Oscar to Tom Hank's Forrest Gump that year.An absolutely masterful performance from Hawthorne, matched by Ian Holm's doctor. The scene where the two of them meet for the first time is one of my favourites of all I have ever seen & always moves me.The film never takes itself too seriously, and the cast is a veritable who's who of great British actors that Hollywood largely ignored. If you haven't seen this film, then I'd urge you to do so. Not many of you will fail to be impressed.......