THE QUEEN, PHILOMENA, FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS – Stephen Frears has a penchant for women who unwavering follow their own path, whether it’s an unusual career like the Queen, a self-appointed mission, or a personal eccentricity. Philippa Langley, played by Sally Hawkins in THE LOST KING, also has a mission. At a theater performance of Shakespeare’s “Richard III,“ she suddenly develops sympathy for the deformed King, perhaps also because she is battling MC/CFS herself and is often underestimated by her environment. She is convinced that the portrait unjustly turned him into an ostracized villain. She begins to research and contact a local division of the Richard III Society, where like-minded people and eccentric amateur historians meet. Her new interests doesn’t garner a lot of enthusiasm in the group, or rather, there’s barely anyone who is very interested in it: at work she’s ignored, the children are leading their own lives, her ex-husband (Steve Coogan, who was also involved in the screenplay) is physically present but emotionally distant. Frear’s directing of the story that is well-known in Britain but rather obscure here, the 2012 discovery of the body of Richard III under a parking lot in Leicester, oscillates between being relaxed and confident and a bit too leisurely, like when Philippa keeps encountering the theater King Richard and discusses the progress of the investigation. Sally Hawkins, however, is perfect in the role of a marginalized woman in her mid 40s who doesn’t give up, even when everyone is slowly getting annoyed and the professionals are rolling their eyes.

Hendrike Bake

Translation: Elinor Lewy