King Rat (1965)
Review by Dindrane
Film:
DVD:

Based on the novel by James Clavell
Written by Bryan Forbes, based on the novel by James Clavell
Directed by Bryan Forbes Starring George Segal, James Fox, Denholm Elliott, Todd Armstrong, Patrick O’Neal, James Donald, and John Mills Cinematography by Burnett Guffey

Features:

• Trailer
  

Released by: Columbia Tristar
Region: 1
Rating: NR, safe for 13+
Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: Buy it.

King Rat is one of the most interesting and unusual World War II films out there. Based upon the novel by James Clavell, the movie tells the story of a group of prisoners in a Japanese prison camp in Malaysia. Corporal King (Segal) has figured out the ins and outs of running the camp’s black market, ensuring that he has nearly enough food and a level of comfort far above what the other prisoners enjoy. Turning military protocol on its head, King and those around him struggle to survive and maintain their humanity in the face of inhuman deprivation and stress.

King Rat won two Academy Awards the year of its release, including one for cinematography, and it’s easy to see why. Just review the shots in the opening sequence: how the images fade from one to the next, showing how animalistic and debased life has become, contrasted of course with King’s situation. Note how the hands on the chicken, a food item, a commodity, are the same as the hands on a man’s face, a man who has become a commodity and an animal of sorts. It’s beautiful, it’s minimal, and it supports the movie all the way through.

The acting is superb. Fox takes the character of Marlowe and lends a grace and depth of compassion that would be all too easy to turn into priggishness or effeminate pandering. Segal takes the character of Corporal King and makes him more likeable than you would imagine possible; by turns cruel and kind, he’s pure mercenary, but not truly evil. Each character is complex and as multi-layered as real men truly are.

The audio and video quality are better than you would expect from forty year old film stock. The black and white images are a bit grainy in places, and some of the scene transfers freeze a second, but that’s not too irritating. Overall, the viewing experience is quite pleasurable, and the filming and direction are so good that the aging process works for the film, rather than against it.

The features are a bit pale, alas. We basically have only the trailer, which is fun to watch, but not good enough for a film of this quality and creativity. It would have been nice to have had commentaries, bios, filmographies, even a still gallery or some notes on World War II POW camps and the Geneva Convention to set the historic stage. The film, of course, is well and truly enough to make this disc a must-buy, but a film of this quality just deserves a wee bit more. Segal and Fox are still with us, as is Forbes himself--so we can always hope that somewhere, somebody has tapes of them locked away for posterity.

Overall, even if you don’t usually enjoy “war” films, then give King Rat a view. It’s not so much about war as it is about humanity and psychology. It’s about heroism in quiet, small ways, and about what it means to be a brave man or a good one. It’s about friendship and loss and pain and fear, and it’s also about hope. There are moments of deep sadness and also hysterical scenes. Just watch it, and you won’t regret it. Keep an eye out for how many levels the “King Rat” of the title works...it’s not just Corporal King.