King Rat is an extraordinary film-I can’t believe that I’ve never heard of it before. It is one of the best POW prison films I’ve ever seen. It seems that many of my friends know it since it was adapted from a novel by Jamse Clavell based on his experiences at the Japanese prison camp Changi in Singapore-which is now home to the airport. It is the story of survival of the prisoners and what they did to survive. George Segal plays King, an American corporal who runs the camp with his black market schemes. He has a bunch of cronies that carry out his requests and he orders officers around as well. It is extremely realistic and has great cinematography. It is also a study of class and society. Once the camp is liberated by Richard Dawson!? King loses his status and position and once again is a lowly corporal rather than the King. The supporting cast is also quite impressive as well. It is well worth seeking out and watching.
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I've read the book, I assume like most Clavell novels it translates to film well. Like Tom Clancy, I find his novels peppered with sophmoric prose, but enjoy the movies. (Disclaimer, I read both Clancy and Clavell after exhausting the book supply I inherited in Asahikawa, Japan back in the early 90's.
Clavell was a Japanese prisoner of war in Singapore, so parts of this are autobiographical. This is also a source of his fascination/hatred of Japanese showcased in the novel Shogun.
Posted by: Arie | November 11, 2009 at 01:12 PM
Arie, I've purposely avoided Clavell's books with the understanding that they were a poorly written. I've been wondering if I've missed something-sounds like I haven't missed much. Although, I have to say that I really liked this film though.
Posted by: MC | November 11, 2009 at 09:28 PM