How others will see it. A charming French comedy, but badly dubbed in English. Viewers are certain to notice, but most probably would not prefer to read subtitles, anyway. Beyond that, some may wonder if those locked up as insane are in fact merely loafing actors waiting for the town to empty to take a holiday. Sure beats working for a living, generally speaking.
Somebody once wondered if all war films are not in fact anti-war films. Some probably are not, but The King of Hearts is. In this film, soldiers are a blundering and murderous lot. It's little wonder that Alan Bates would rather go AWOL and join the well fed actors club, than wait for his turn to die in the grown-up game of war.
Will a contemporary American audience respect The King of Hearts? The photography and costumes are welcome enough, but the fanciful story, and its pointed slaughter of opposing regiments, will not likely be appreciated. Americans instead prefer the Black Hawk Down school of war movies, which feature scared young men in intense battlefield crises.
How I felt about it. Are locked up crazies simply harmless posers who like to dress up in costumes and pretend they're important aristocracy? In other words, are they just large-sized children at play? This stereotype of madness, the man who thinks he's Napoleon, probably does not apply to many actually imprisoned or insane.
But perhaps things are different in France, or were during the first World War, when pretending insanity was a great improvement over manning a trench, waiting for the Germans to crawl over the land mines and barbed wire to visit your bunker. Or even worse, you might be sent on a similar journey to a German trench. No, I think I'm the Duke of Clubs instead. Where's my parasol?
Alan Bates constantly has thrust at him a teenaged and gorgeous Bujold, who is about half his age. This being a movie, Bates never really takes advantage of her. But she'll be of age come World War II, and perhaps the inmates will have another holiday then. Hope strings eternal.