The Lost King: the Richard III film rewriting history

A new movie about the discovery of a British monarch’s remains has been accused of a “reckless” airbrushing of history.

Described as a “quirky drama” by The Guardian, The Lost King tells the story of an amateur historian, Philippa Langley, who defies the academic establishment in her bid to find King Richard III’s remains, which were lost for over 500 years.

But archaeologists and scientists involved in the discovery, fear that the film “airbrushes out their contributions in favour of an amateur historian”, said The Times. Academics feel they have been “unfairly portrayed as sexist, patronising glory hunters”, said the Daily Mail, but the film’s producers are standing by their story.

Here is what we know.

What’s the film about?

The Lost King is a “warmly funny” movie and “historically curious”, said Empire. Co-written by Steve Coogan, it focuses on the story of Philippa Langley, whose quest to find the lost monarch prompted his discovery beneath a Leicester car park by academics in 2012.

Coogan, who plays Langley’s husband, had previously told the BBC that Langley had been “incensed” by how she had been treated by the university.

“The film is my story. Everything you see on screen is documented and supported by original materials and eyewitness testimony,” Langley told the broadcaster.

The film presents the University of Leicester as “cackling, self-interested villains who steal Philippa’s thunder,” said Empire, and Langley as the hero. But not everyone agrees with this depiction.

Who is Philippa Langley?

Langley was the secretary of the Scottish branch of the Richard III Society, who spent eight years looking for the remains of the king and “ultimately convinced the authorities to allow her to dig in the car park”, said The Times.

She told The Guardian that it was during a trip to Leicester in 2004 that she had the “strangest feeling” that Richard was buried in the social services car park, which had been previously identified as the site where Richard’s body had been taken after he was killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485.

She is co-author, with Michael K. Jones, of The King’s Grave: The Search for Richard III, and she has also initiated a project to locate the remains of Henry I of England.

Article source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/arts-life/culture/film/958101/the-lost-king-the-richard-iii-film-rewriting-history