Without the King transitions nicely from standard operating crisis report to a portrait of a hopeful political awakening.
Comment
06/20/08
Without the King (2008)
94 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 18
Fresh: 17
Rotten:1
Average Rating: 7.4/10
Theatrical Release:Apr 25, 2008 Limited
Synopsis: Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the Hot Docs International Documentary Festival, this acclaimed film tells an astonishing story of Africa’s last absolute monarchy, the Kingdom of Swaziland.... [More]
Director: Michael Skolnik
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Reviews for Without the King
1 - 18 (sorted by date)
Top CriticPowerful and enlightening.
06/20/08
Director Michael Skolnik’s generically crafted documentary on the precarious conditions of Swaziland, last functioning monarchy in Africa, is a curious mixture of banality and revelation.
06/19/08
Pashu straddles a particular and complicated divide in Without the King, Michael Skolnik's intriguing documentary about the last kingdom in Africa.
04/30/08
... the ultimate experience of Skolnik's film is seeing a country that seems about to disappear from the face of the earth.
04/27/08
It's a shame the film doesn't cast a wider net into deeper political waters.
04/26/08
[An] intelligent but incomplete-feeling documentary.
04/25/08
Without the King is a fascinating documentary about a little-known African tyrant, King Mswati III of Swaziland, a country the size of New Jersey with a population of 1.1 million.
04/25/08
Top CriticWithout the King, Michael Skolnik’s subtly perceptive documentary, avoids a tone of first-world outrage; leaning more toward understanding than blame, the film examines a country forced to choose between tradition and survival.
04/25/08
Top CriticPenetrating study of greed and feudal backwardness in Africa's last absolute monarchy.
04/25/08
Skolnik, who directs and scripted Without the King, brings vivid, highly critical life to this hapless country.
04/25/08
Director Michael Skolnik gained extraordinary access to both Swaziland’s royal family and its political underground, and delivers an unflinching portrait of a country where life expectancy is the shortest in the world.
04/24/08
A documentary about the last ruling King in Africa which shows that the offspring of absolute political power is injustice.
04/24/08
King fascinates on many levels as it ticks off intriguing sociological facts about this impoverished nation.
04/24/08
Top CriticA cut above the average Quad-bound video agit-prop doc.
04/23/08
Top CriticBio-pic about the last reigning monarch on the continent governing just about the only sub-Saharan nation untouched by civil war or ethnic cleansing, despite the world's lowest life expectancy at 31.
04/22/08
We're supposed to buy the idea that the Swazis will be saved by Africa's answer to Paris Hilton? Yeah, right. Proof-positive that despotism and decadence comes in all colors.
04/22/08
Despite its lack of fair balance, the piece is absolutely compelling and makes a point that is far more universal than any one country.
03/30/08
1 - 18 (sorted by date)
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