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43
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43
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47
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89
Man on Wire
82
Dark Knight, The
81
Still Life
72
Woman on the Beach
72
Ghost Town
71
Horton Hears a Who!
67
Flow: For Love of Water
64
Wanted
64
Pineapple Express
63
Man Named Pearl, A
63
Burn After Reading
62
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The
62
Duchess, The
61
Wackness, The
60
Traitor
60
Blind Mountain
57
Towelhead
55
House Bunny, The
55
Ping Pong Playa
54
Hamlet 2
51
Mamma Mia!
51
Savage Grace
51
Step Brothers
49
Hancock
47
X-Files: I Want to Believe, The
43
Eagle Eye
43
Anamorph
43
Meet Dave
43
Death Race
42
Fred Claus
36
Space Chimps
36
Righteous Kill
36
Fly Me to the Moon
31
Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The
27
Women, The
26
Babylon A.D.
24
Bangkok Dangerous
20
American Carol, An
16
Surfer, Dude
15
Disaster Movie
xx
Eden Lake
xx
Alphabet Killer, The
xx
Lower Learning
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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Without the King
First Run Features
 |
|
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
King Mswati III
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. King Mswati III, a distant figure out of touch with his home and country, rules by decree and lives a life of luxury together with his 12 wives, while his subjects suffer from crushing poverty and the world’s highest HIV infection rate. With unprecedented access, we meet headstrong first wife Queen LaMbikiza, eldest child and teen rapper, Princess Sikhanyiso, King Mswati himself, as well as many Swazi citizens who are plotting his downfall. Filmmaker Michael Skolnik captures the birth of a nation's revolution, and the dawning awareness of a young Swazi princess as she realizes the contrast between her impoverished country and her lavish lifestyle. (First Run Features)
| GENRE(S): |
Documentary
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Michael Skolnik
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: July 22, 2008
Theatrical: April 25, 2008
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
83 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
70
The New York Times
Jeannette Catsoulis
The film, fluidly shot by James Adolphus, remains deeply sensitive to the complexities of a culture whose attachment to monarchy contravenes its best interests. This dilemma is gradually becoming clear to Princess Sikhanyiso, the oldest of the king's 22 children and a student in California. Intelligent, articulate, caring and strong-willed, she could be her country's best hope.

63
New York Post
V.A. Musetto
By far the film's most interesting subject is the king's eldest daughter, 18-year-old Princess Sikhanyiso, who likes to be known as Pashu. She's a self-styled rapper who goes to a Catholic college in California and acts like the spoiled rich kid that she is.

63
TV Guide
Ken Fox
Intelligent but incomplete-feeling documentary.

60
Village Voice
Vadim Rizov
A cut above the average Quad-bound video agit-prop doc, Michael Skolnik's Without the King succeeds mostly through negative virtues.

50
Variety
Ronnie Scheib
With Swaziland providing this mother lode of material, helmer Michael Skolnik extracts only the most pedestrian of films.

50
LA Weekly
Ernest Hardy
A curious mixture of banality and revelation.

40
Film Threat
Phil Hall
It is a shame the film doesn't cast a wider net into deeper political waters – the outrage is barely scratched in this production.


The average user rating for this movie is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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