I don't know exactly what I expected from "King Rat," but what I got definitely wasn't it, and I liked what I got much more than whatever it was I thought I was going to get.
I guess I thought "King Rat" was going to be something along the lines of "Stalag 17," a serious story in a serious setting, but with a buddy movie vibe and a lot of comedy thrown in. That is most certainly NOT what this movie is. "King Rat" is instead a bleak, haunting, and rather strange film about the simple act of survival in a Japanese prisoner camp during the last days of WWII. It's episodic in nature, detailing one grueling incident after another. It explores the degree to which imprisoned military men will impose a hierarchy one way or another, one that either does or doesn't always match the hierarchy of their military lives when free men. For example, at the top of the pecking order in this prison camp is George Segal, the eponymous king rat, who will stop at nothing to ensure his own comfort and who's an object of awe and even fear to those around him, even officers who outrank him. But then the war ends, the prisoners are set free, and everything goes back to the way it was. Where does that leave things like friendship, community, and just simple camaraderie, and where does that leave the conscience of men like King Rat, who exploited his brothers for all they were worth when times were tough.
The movie is tremendous, the performances are all uniformly fine, and director Bryan Forbes gives everything a naturalistic tone that makes the film feel like a product from a later date.
"King Rat" received Oscar nominations for its truly impressive art direction and cinematography, both in the black and white categories back in the days when distinctions were made between B&W and color films.
Grade: A
