Blu-ray Review: THE KING’S DAUGHTER

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Apr 18, 2022 Posted by Kyle Nolan in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

The year is 1684, and for the past 20 years of so, orphan Marie-Josephe d’Alembert (Kaya Scodelario, Spinning Out, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City) has been living at the Convent of St. Helene in France, where she has been watched over by the often-annoyed Head Abbess (Rachel Griffiths, The Wilds). Marie-Josephe is a bit free-spirited. She loves being near the ocean, playing music, and often dreams of what it would have been like to have grown up with a family and parents. Marie-Josephe is unaware that she is actually the illegitimate daughter of King Louis XIV (Pierce Brosnan), the longest reigning monarch in history.

The king has just returned from a long but successful war, which has caused him to contemplate his own mortality. The king commissions an expedition, led by Captain Yves de la Croix (Benjamin Walker, Jessica Jones), to find the lost city of Atlantis, believing it to be home to a creature that holds the secret to ever-lasting life. The sailors are to bring back a mermaid (Bingbing Fan), and with the help of scientist Dr. Labarthe (Pablo Schreiber, HALO), the king plans to sacrifice the sea creature in a magical ceremony during the upcoming eclipse, which will transfer the mermaid’s immortality to himself. However, the king’s spiritual advisor, Pere La Chaise (William Hurt, Goliath, Condor), strongly cautions him against performing the ceremony as he would be committing a mortal sin, but this doesn’t seem to phase the monarch.

The king also has another problem—the recent drawn-out battle had completely depleted the kingdom’s coffers, and he is in desperate need of money. So he decides to marry off Marie-Josephe to the soon-to-be Duke Lintillac (Ben Lloyd-Hughes, Sanditon), who stands to inherit a fortune from his ailing father. The king summons his daughter to Versailles under the guise of wanting her to compose some new music for the upcoming solstice festivities. But she is blissfully unaware that either the king is her father, or that he plans to arrange her marriage. At first Marie-Josephe is happy to be away from the making a new friend in lady-in-waiting Magali (Crystal Clarke, Sanditon). But one night Marie-Josephe hears a melancholy song, beckoning her to make her way to a cove where she finds the mermaid. Only Marie-Josephe seems to be able to communicate with the creature, and she quickly bonds with the mermaid, unware of the grisly fate the king has planned for her. But as Marie-Josephe starts to uncover the truth, she threatens to throw a wrench in all of the king’s solstice day plans.

The King’s Daughter is a historical fiction/fantasy tale based on Vonda N. McIntyre’s 1997 novel “The Moon and the Sun“. It is part fantasy film, part period drama, part swashbuckling adventure, and even part romantic love story, with a bit of humor thrown in. While set in a period centuries ago, the themes and mentality of the characters feels quite modern, especially when it comes to Marie-Josephe, who is an independent, headstrong young woman who isn’t afraid to speak her mind, even to the king. While Marie-Josephe usually sees the best in people, and takes them at their word, she quickly realizes that the king is being less than forthright with her. While she had always dreamed of having a life that the king can offer her, she is more concerned with helping out this sad creature who’s been taken from her home and faces a terrible fate. She will do whatever it takes to accomplish this. At the same time, she’s also starting to fall in love with the captain, with whom she shares a love of the sea, but this doesn’t really fit in with the king’s plans to marry her off to the Duke. Captain Yves is in a tenuous position, wrongfully accused of a crime and being forced to comply with the king’s orders or else face imprisonment or worse. But he still has a conscience, and wants to help Marie-Josephe in her quest. The priest, Pere La Chaise, also finds himself in a similar tough spot. Meanwhile, the Sun King literally believes he’s god’s gift to France, and is hellbent on obtaining immortality, and assisting him in this quest is the ruthless Dr. Labarthe, who doesn’t see the mermaid as a living creature, but rather as just a vessel holding the key to this end, and he is keen to see the experiment through.

The King’s Daughter was shot on location in France, making use of some picturesque and beautiful locations, such as the Hall of Mirrors and the Chateau at Versailles. The film was originally completed in 2014, but only just found its way into the theaters this year, making it William Hurt’s final feature film. I’m not sure why there was such a long delay in getting the film released, but that’s not usually a promising sign. At times the movie feels a bit overly-dramatic and over-acted, particularly when it comes to Brosnan as the self-centered, flamboyant king. Brosnan is constantly chewing up the scenery, and having a lot of fun and adding humor. We often see the king confessing his sins to Pere La Chaise, which usually consists of his nightly exploits, if he can correctly recall the names of the women involved. In a deleted scene, we also get an elaborate and over-the-top dance number between the king and two of these women. I think if the film had embraced this kind of campiness more with the other characters as well, it may have worked a little better for me. The tone of the film feels a bit odd and inconsistent at times. The movie is set in the late 1600s, and much of the score feels of this era, however, during two scenes there are these random modern needle drops—a pop ballad about 60 minutes in, and a Sia song near the end of the movie. It would have been different if the filmmakers had taken an approach like A Knight’s Tale or Bridgerton and used all modern music to match the more modern sensibility of Marie-Josephe, but with just a couple songs out of the whole soundtrack, it just feels a bit jarring and out of place when they appear.

While I thought the film had an interesting premise and story, the execution didn’t quite work for me. With most movies these days running over two hours, I was surprised to see this one clocking in at just 98 minutes. At times it felt a little rushed, quickly jumping from one storyline or location to the next. The story is very much straightforward, but also tries to mix in too many separate plotlines in such a short time. Characters seem to get from one location to the next instantly, with no sense of how much time has passed. In the opening of the film, it feels like the seamen find the mermaid and return in a single day, when this was supposed to be some arduous quest for a mythological creature. And the princess seems to just easily transport herself from the castle to the cave where the mermaid is being kept, with no sense of anyone guarding the location or that it was even difficult to find. In the deleted scenes, there is this fun, over-the-top dance sequence that was cut out —I think it could have been a lot of fun had the film fully committed to that type of zaniness and more modern feel all around.

Universal’s Blu-ray release looks quite good with its picturesque locales, bright blue sea/skies, green cliffs, beautiful castles, and so on, but the picture feels a bit flat at times. It is lacking that extra level of detail and clarity. This can be seen right as the film opens on a close-up of a leather-bound storybook, which lacks any noticeable texture, and is again especially evident in the design of the mermaid, who often comes off more animated than photorealistic. The audio track provides clear dialogue throughout, though it is sometimes slightly overpowered by the score and sound effects. The track makes nice use of the surround channel to give a more immersive experience. This is noticeable during scenes such as the stormy sea and winds as the seamen go to capture the mermaid or sing their shanty, the sounds of the crowds clapping and cheering at the king’s ball, or the sound of fireworks exploding in the sky.

The Blu-ray release comes packed in standard HD keepcase with a carboard slipcover, and contains an insert with a code to redeem for an HD Movies Anywhere digital copy of the the film. The bonus material consists of a single deleted scene and an 8-minute behind-the-scenes featurette.

What’s Included:

Film: (1:38:19)

1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Digital (code may not be valid after 6/30/2023):

HD Movies Anywhere Digital Copy

Extras:

Play All, or select from:

Deleted Scene (1:40)
After the king dances with his daughter, the music kicks up and he has a far sexier dance with some of the other women of the court. The scene ends with the Duke saying that there’s an opportunity there with Marie-Josephe, but he doesn’t understand what it is yet. While the scene is fun, it is also easy to see why it was cut as it doesn’t really fit the tone of the rest of the scene/movie. Though if the filmmakers had mixed in additional scenes like this, it could have worked.
Cast Reflections on The King’s Daughter (8:24)
The cast and filmmakers look back on their time making the movie. They discuss “The Beginnings” – how they got involved with the project, their initial thoughts and reactions, getting a tour of the palace, and getting to know one another; “Finding Their Voice” – the costumes, headspace, and finding their characters; “Working With Royalty” – the chemistry between the cast, and working with one another; “Filming on Location”- filming in Versailles; and “Beauty Beyond the Surface” – what they took away from the film, and the contemporary feel and themes. Includes behind-the-scenes photos and footage, and interviews with director Sean McNamara, and stars Pierce Brosnan (“King Louis XIV”), Ben Lloyd-Hughes (“Jean-Michael Lintillac”), Kaya Scodelario (“Marie-Josephe”), Benjamin Walker (“Captain Yves”), Pablo Schreiber (Dr. Labarthe”) & William Hurt (“Pere La Chaise”).

Final Thoughts:

My Rating

Film:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:

Rent It First

The King’s Daughter has an interesting premise, a great cast, and some beautiful filming locations, but the overall execution and story didn’t quite work for me. It tries to do a bit too much in a short time, making the film feel a bit rushed and incomplete. The tone is also a bit inconsistent. The film is overall entertaining, with all the right elements of fantasy, magic and romance, but it is missing that spark that would make it a truly memorable classic—The Princess Bride is it not. Universal’s Blu-ray looks and sounds quite good overall, but lacks a bit of the wow factor when it comes to the finer picture details. The bonus material is minimal but entertaining. I think this will appeal to certain audiences, and for that reason, I’d recommend a rental before a blind buy.