The King

Gael Garcia Bernal (THE MOTORCYCLE DIARIES) may posses the rugged good looks of a classic screen star but he continues to dodge Hollywood instead choosing to follow his own idiosyncratic path with movies like THE KING. Bernal stars as Elvis Valderez a recently discharged Navy recruit who travels to Corpus Christi Texas to track down the father hes never met. But when he finds him Elvis is in for a shock his father David Sandow (William Hurt who surely based his performance on the all-too-real John Mark Byers from PARADISE LOST) is the leader of a Baptist congregation in Corpus Christi and has instilled strong Christian values in all of his family. David wants the rogue-like Elvis to steer clear of his flock perhaps fearing that hell reveal long-buried secrets about Davids past. But when the ex-Navy man sees his fathers daughter 16-year-old Malerie (Pell James) he longs to form a romantic bond with her. Initially unaware that Malerie is his half-sister Elvis continues to pursue her even when he discovers their family relationship leading to smalltown tumult with plenty of unexpected twists in the plot. Despite having only one prior film to his name (the wonderfully gloomy documentary WISCONSIN DEATH TRIP) director James Marsh pulls some great performances from Bernal and Hurt and beautifully captures the dazzling sunlit countryside of this small Texan outpost. Indeed cinematographer Eigil Bryld--who also worked with Marsh on his previous film--plays a big part in setting the tone of the movie with his stark use of colour which is well matched by an accomplished script from Milo Addica (MONSTERS BALL).