A United Kingdom (2017)

A United Kingdom falls into a category of film which we have all seen many times. It is an encapsulation of western romantic ideals. It focuses these ideals through the lens of a romance, a true story romance, so that it is not only as palatable as possible but as attractive as possible. The films sells the idea of a better world than we live in which can be accomplished through love and that is beautiful, isn't it?

Director Amma Asante has lofty goals and films her story beautifully. She is an accomplished film maker and A United Kingdom is another achievement in her oeuvre. Lush and lovely she captures both the beauty of London and of what will become Botswana, both disparate worlds, both connected in a lovely way in Asante's vision.

But something bugged me the whole way through which I had difficulty putting my finger on. I am fully on board with her morality tale about transcending the racial and socioeconomic constructs we have created and nurture in the western world. For me the only problem with A United Kingdom is how overly simple Asante makes it feel.

Her Sir Seretse Khama and Ruth Williams are perfect people.  They are the sorts of interracial couples that are safe and acceptable, only disrupting the status quo to the effect of their love. But in this specific story, didn't they disrupt even more than that? Still, they face a very straightforward sort of racism when they unite. They encounter thugs in a London alley who make predictable cat calls. Their families oppose their union on the most basic of levels. They countries officially oppose their relationship on simplistic apartheid politics. Yes all of this is true. It really happened. But did it really happen in such a plain manner? And the film's focus on the triumph of their romance over the structural racism of empire and global politics seems like a bit of a fairy tale yet it is presented as history.

A United Kingdom is a lovely story with two accomplished performances and a lovely message but it's paint by numbers approach to one of the most pervasive and horrible problems of the modern worl is a weakness. What A United Kingdom is missing is an insightful analysis of the complicated barriers that this couple, and the people of future Botswana, and the colonized world, have been struggling with for centuries.

I do have to give credit to Asante for fitting in a bit of truth in how the British colonialism reinforces the conflict within Khama's African nation. She is able to show, somewhat, how the excuse is used that it is the people and culture of Bechuanaland that are opposing their king's relationship with his white wife, but that the seeds of this were planted and being fostered by the colonialist powers. There is a cleverly inserted scene where the British Prime Minister explains in a sort of "global politics for dummies" sort of way why "good people" support horrible bigotry for economic reasons. I wish the film had done more than just insert these moments. But it is there, along with the love story.

Still, it is a testament to Asante's skills as a film maker that she has made a film as compelling as this anyway. It is hard not to smile as you watch Oyelowo and Pike fall in love with each other. Even if you know the story is selling their true legacy a bit short, their story remains a powerful one and Asante has told it beautifully.

A United Kingdom
Starring: David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, Terry Pheto, Jack Davenport, Tom Felton
Director: Amma Asante
Writer: Guy Hibbert