A United Kingdom, film review: Times change but prejudice never does

The film is let down by its script, which can’t even settle on a tone, says Charlotte O'Sullivan
Charlotte O'Sullivan25 November 2016

Prince Harry should check out this period romance.

An African royal (David Oyelowo) falls for a white girl from Blackheath (Rosamund Pike) and the pair decide to wed. At which point all hell breaks loose. It’s 1947, you see, and race is a hot-button issue. Not like now (pause for effect).

A United Kingdom is based on a book called Colour Bar, which tells the true and extraordinary story of Seretse Khama, heir to the throne of Bechuanaland, who happily gave up his title to help create the “non-racial” republic of Botswana. Other bluebloods have set aside their crowns but if you’re picturing a Botswanian version of Edward VIII and Mrs Simpson, don’t.

Khama was not only incorruptible but obsessed with democracy. And blessed with luck. Black leaders who try to mobilise the masses put their lives on the line. Oyelowo, who played Martin Luther King in Selma and has spent years trying to get this project off the ground, offers a useful reminder: the good don’t always die young.

He’s entirely likable in the role and has a lovely chemistry with Pike, who plays Ruth. They often resemble the earnest, shyly witty protagonists in last year’s Brooklyn.

Ruth wears the same dress twice (as women on planet Earth, unlike planet Hollywood, often do). And Pike, in the scenes when Ruth feels that she’s losing Seretse, looks honest-to-god frazzled.

What lets the film down is the script, which can’t even settle on a tone. A scene in which a pregnant Ruth decides to give birth in a local hospital rather than a fancy South African one feels preachy. Meanwhile, the bit where she goes into labour by herself is pap (in real life, Seretse was there for the birth) — nothing is gained by pretending otherwise. The opportunism of various politicians should be fascinating. Ditto the hostility aimed at Ruth by both black and white women. But the supporting characters are so devoid of personality that, whether they’re being outwitted or won over, it’s hard to care.

Maybe director Amma Asante wanted to make her film Oscar-friendly. In Belle she lingered poetically over objects and faces. Here her shot selection is more anonymous. Seretse and Ruth (seen together in photographs at the end of the movie) look delightfully idiosyncratic.

They have an essence which the film can’t entirely bottle — but good karma to David Oyelowo’s team for trying.

Cert 12A, 111 mins

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