She discovers where King Richard III was buried through, excuse the pun, a hunch... it’s remarkable
The remarkable story of how the remains of King Richard III, were found in a Leicester car park has been brought to the big screen. RACHAEL DAVIS and find out more from director Stephen Frears and stars Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan
FROM the moment it made news headlines it sounded like the plot of a film.
The year is 2015 and writer Philippa Langley and historian John Ashdown-Hill have been presented with MBEs by Queen Elizabeth II.
The pair were recognised after spearheading a campaign that eventually resulted in the discovery of Richard III’s remains in a Leicester car park.
The remains of the Plantagenet monarch, which had been lost for hundreds of years, were unearthed in September 2012, and confirmed as those of Richard following a wealth of evidence gathered from historical documents, skeletal details and DNA samples, which matched those of his distant living relatives.
A legal battle over where he would be laid to rest followed after a group representing his descendants lobbied for him to be buried in York, with a funeral eventually going ahead at Leicester Cathedral.
And now, almost like the final piece of the puzzle has fallen into place, the incredible story has been made into a film directed by Stephen Frears and starring Sally Hawkins, Steve Coogan and Harry Lloyd.
Titled The Lost King, the film reunites British director Stephen with writing duo Steve (who also acts in the film as John Langley) and Jeff Pope, with whom Stephen collaborated for 2013’s Oscar-nominated Philomena, starring Dame Judi Dench and Steve.
“[I] just thought ‘this is an interesting story’,” muses Stephen. “I couldn’t find anything not to be interested in.”
The draw for Golden Globe winner Sally, who plays Philippa, was also strong.
“She ends up discovering where Richard was buried, just through, excuse the pun, a hunch. And that’s what was remarkable. It’s beautiful. It’s extraordinary,” says the actress, 46, who was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in 2017’s The Shape Of Water.
The film adds its own twists and turns in the form of Richard III (played by Harry) appearing to Sally’s character and conversing with her as she goes about her quest to find his remains.
It also tackles some of the previous representations of Richard III, notably William Shakespeare’s description of him as being “hunchbacked”, hence Sally’s earlier reference.
“In my lifetime, I was brought up to think one thing, I was taught history and the history of kings and queens, the history of the British Empire,” says Stephen, when asked why it’s important to challenge the different interpretations of Richard III.
“And in my lifetime, I’ve come to this and I think I wasn’t taught very well.
“So re-examination is a big part of my life. So a film that, as it deals with re-examination, is naturally interesting.”
Alan Partridge star Steve, 56, has his own take on the story and re-telling: “People don’t like injustice. People do like David and Goliath stories, and this is a David and Goliath story of the amateur versus the establishment.”
So how did Philippa feel about having her story told on the big screen?
She recounts: “When somebody comes to you and says they’d like to tell your story, you don’t think for a moment it actually will happen.
“It’s not something you approach lightly because you are literally placing your life into the hands of others.
“But I felt listening to Steve, listening to Jeff, how much they love the story – I thought it was right to go with them.”
The script has a light comedy touch which brings the history alive on the big screen, all thanks to Steve and Jeff’s handiwork, which previously won them a Bafta for best adapted screenplay for Philomena.
Steve says: “We write dramas which are about something, and we use comedy to sugar the pill of what might ostensibly be inaccessible topics.
“We don’t want to be elitist, we want to reach out to as many people as possible and intelligently present a thought-provoking story with humour, so it’s fun and not boring.
“It’s a device, it’s not an end in itself,” he continues. “Comedy’s great, because it wins people over... And, of course there is comedy in life, comedy
in the strangest circumre-examine stances. Even in bleak situations, people find comedy, they seek out comedy.”
Speaking in 2015, Philippa recounted the Queen’s reaction to their story, saying of the investiture ceremony: “The Queen was fascinated by the whole project.
“She asked if we always thought he was buried in Leicester and I confirmed we did.
“I said once we’d gone into the research, the car park looked like a real possibility, it was a hypothesis, but a real possibility. She said ‘Yes, to find a king in a car park is not an everyday occurrence’.”
Director Stephen’s other films include Dangerous Liaisons, My Beautiful Launderette and perhaps
most relevantly 2006’s The Queen, starring Dame Helen Mirren.
With his new film released in the weeks following Queen Elizabeth II’s death on September 8, he reflects: “The Queen was a remarkable woman. She is the only thing about the royal family that was interesting.
“Her character was particularly appropriate for it and she had great authority. And everybody would be upset at a woman of 96 or whatever it was dying.
“But the two weeks... I mean, what were the 10 days of mourning? Was that necessary? Was it necessary to cancel football matches?”
In The Lost King Philippa’s battle to get the remains found is not linear. Challenges line her path.
“It’s not just about a person, it’s about a woman in a strongly patriarchal society who asserts herself and takes control of her life,” says Steve, adding: “I thought it would resonate with a lot of women who feel a bit invisible at a certain point in their lives.
“It’s a conversation about sexual politics, as much as anything.”
The Lost King is in cinemas now