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King Rat Movie Streaming.
Movie Title: King Rat King Rat is available for streaming or downloading. |
There are many mysteries of the universe that I have yet to unravel. One of the most puzzling is the lack of recognition usually given to King Rat. I consider this film among the top twenty of all time. Alas, few people are even aware of its existence. The Director Bryan Forbes should have least received an Academy Award nomination. George Segal is brilliant as the amoral prisoner of war camp manipulator who is indifferent to the suffering of his fellow comrades. He is charmingly personable, highly intelligent, and utterly selfish. A mere corporal in rank, the King Rat often tells officers what to do. We view the day to day lives of these allied military combatants interned by the Japanese during World War II. Avoiding starvation is a daily challenge. Retaining one’s moral decency and sanity is near impossible. The captured soldiers perceive little reason to exhibit physical courage, and are seemingly content to wait out the end of the war. They are many miles behind enemy lines, and escape seems pointless.
King Rat is difficult to watch. This is not a message film. Novelist James Clavel’s purpose is not to particularly provide any deep existential insights pertaining to life and death. There are instances of compassion and altruistic warmth, but these men at least subconsciously realize that the death of a buddy increases the chances of their own survival. They will then have more food to eat and clothes to put on their backs.
A number of the fine actors who fill out the cast include Patrick O’Neal, James Fox, John Mills, and Tom Courtenay. I consider King Rat to be a better film than the far more famous “Bridge on the River Kwai.” Will you also agree with my assessment? Perhaps not, but I do think that it’s a safe bet you will find King Rat to be worthy of your time and interest.
King Rat appeared around the same time as “The Train”. While both attempt an unsentimentalized view of war and it’s heroes, “The Train” (an excellent film) is ultimately an action piece about victory. “King Rat” on the other hand, is about survival.
Over the last twenty-five years I’ve read the book twice and seen the movie at least five times. I don’t care what the differences are anymore – both book and film are exceptional works. Different, but definitely equal. Experiencing either will be a harrowing, heart-breaking, but ultimately rewarding experience.
Set in Changi prison camp (and based on Clavel’s real-life experiences there) King Rat is the story of a young British officer (James Fox) who finds himself working for the camp hustler (George Segal). Together they are harassed by camp Provost Martial Tom Courtney determined to catch Segal (Corporal King) breaking regulations.
The adaptation and direction by Bryan Forbes (who had to make allowances for the conservative sensibilities of a sixties audience) is simply amazing: King Rat is about the heat, disease, suffering, and madness. These aren’t the stiff-upper-lip-discipline-or-die men of “Bridge On The River Kwai”. The soldiers in King Rat are wretched, pathetic, and despairing. There is no sentimentality here, neither in front of, or behind the camera. Forbes’ lens is unflinching — it’s the audience who has to look away.
The cast alone makes this film worthwhile: George Segal (for the uninitiated, Segal was once a rising star), Tom Courtenay, James Fox, Patrick O’Neal, Denholm Elliot, James Donald, Tod Armstrong, John Mills, Gerald Sim, and Leonard Rossiter to name a few. They are all at their best. There are no disappointments here. In fact, I think it is the cast that makes me prefer the film to the book. Tom Courtney is much better at realizing his character than Clavel can write him. While Clavel (who lived this harrowing experience) may have known these people, it’s the cast who have personalized and personified them. And so, while Forbes may have cut significant material from the book, I think the soul of the work is stronger. This is most apparent in the last line of dialog: in the book it is delivered by Tom Courtney’s character, but in the film it is given to James Fox.
But what is most amazing is that, after thirty-five years and the likes of “Patton”, “Full Metal Jacket”, “Platoon”, “The Odd Angry Shot”, and “Saving Private Ryan”, “King Rat” still holds it’s own. IF you are a connoisseur of films (war or otherwise) this is a must see.
