Love brings black and white together
A UNITED KINGDOM (12A, 111 mins)
A SHAMEFUL episode of bigotry during the British Empire’s post-war decline provides rich source material for Amma Asante’s handsome and deeply moving love story.
Anchored by impassioned performances, A United Kingdom dramatises the true romance of a defiant African prince and a London salesman’s daughter, which embroiled two continents in an ugly tug-of-war for supremacy.
Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo), heir apparent to the nation of Bechua- naland (now Botswana), is studying law in 1947 London before returning home to lead his people.
At a dance organised by the London Missionary Society, Seretse falls in love with typist Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike), whose father George (Nicholas Lyndhurst) would never condone the flourishing romance.
Paternal rage pales next to the indignation of Alistair Canning (Jack Davenport), the British government’s representative in southern Africa.
“If you choose to marry the leader of an African nation, you will be responsible for the downfall of the British Empire,” he coldly informs Ruth.
Unperturbed, the couple marry and Ruth accompanies Seretse to Bechuanaland, where she faces hostility from his family.
Meanwhile, the British – represented by district commissioner Rufus Lancaster (Tom Felton) – and the South African government use underhand tactics to separate the lovebirds.
A United Kingdom is a stirring ode to love, eschewing heavy-handed sermonising and distinguished by molten onscreen chemistry between Oyelowo and Pike.