Hugely funny absurdism
Well-conceived comedy
Highly amusing, surrealist road movie in which the dopey King van Belgium discovers life and himself. Nicolas III leaves for a state visit to Istanbul where a British film maker, Duncan Lloyd, will make a documentary to buff up the king’s reputation. During the visit, news is received that Wallonia has declared independence.
The king must return at once to save his kingdom! But before he is ready to leave, a powerful solar storm disrupts all telecommunications and air traffic. The Turkish security services will not hear of the proposal to return overland instead. Then Duncan comes up with a plan involving flowery dresses and female Bulgarian singers. And so beings an undercover odyssey through the Balkans, a trip full of unexpected encounters, unforeseen dilemmas and unexpected moments of joy. Slowly the king and his entourage abandon their roles and Nicolas, who first appeared so wooden and lonely (perfectly casting of Peter Van den Begin), becomes a whole lot more lively, spontaneous and jolly.
King of The Belgians involves hugely funny absurdism, but is never over the top thanks to the inclusion of bittersweet moments and, especially, to the way in which the makers view Belgium, Europe and monarchy.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.