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47-397: The Lost King is a 2022 British biographical film directed by Stephen Frears . Written by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope , it is based on the 2013 book The King's Grave: The Search for Richard III by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones. It is a dramatisation of the story of Philippa Langley ( Sally Hawkins ), the woman who initiated the search to find King Richard III's remains under

94-470: A churchyard is a patch of land adjoining or surrounding a church , which is usually owned by the relevant church or local parish itself. In the Scots language and in both Scottish English and Ulster Scots , this can also be known as a kirkyard . While churchyards can be any patch of land on church grounds, historically, they were often used as graveyards (burial places). After the establishment of

141-558: A Fairytale (2006), and Howard Stern in Private Parts (1997). In 2018, the musical biopic Bohemian Rhapsody , based on the life of Queen singer Freddie Mercury , became the highest-grossing biopic in history at the time. In 2023, it was surpassed by Oppenheimer , based on the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer and the creation of the atomic bomb in World War II. Churchyard In Christian countries

188-547: A cameo appearance at the end of the film as Woman Attending the Re-Burial of Richard III (uncredited). In November 2020, it was announced that Stephen Frears was set to direct the film, based on a screenplay written by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, and co-starring Coogan. In March 2021, it was announced that Sally Hawkins had joined the cast as Philippa Langley. Principal photography began in April of that year, and took place across

235-622: A car park in Leicester , and her treatment by the University of Leicester in the claiming of credit for the discovery. Coogan and Harry Lloyd also feature in the cast. The Lost King was produced by Pathé , Baby Cow , BBC Film and Ingenious Media , and distributed by Pathé in France and Switzerland as a standalone distributor, and in the UK via Warner Bros. Pictures . The film premiered at

282-434: A car park is the site of Richard's grave. Returning home, she confesses her activities to John. Philippa contacts University of Leicester archaeologist Richard Buckley, who dismisses her ideas, but when the university cuts his funding, he gets back to her. Buckley finds an old map of Leicester marking Robert Herrick's property, showing a possible public shrine in his garden. They overlay a modern map of Leicester and find that

329-572: A churchyard in Pittsburgh were used to help form the foundation for an addition to the church fifty years after the last burial in the churchyard took place (the foundation itself unknowingly went through fifteen graves), with the churchyard itself becoming a parking lot nearly forty years after that; the churchyard was largely forgotten until PennDOT purchased the church property via eminent domain for construction of Interstate 279 and subsequently unearthed 727 graves. Some churchyards across

376-406: A codified genre using many of the same tropes used in the studio era that has followed a similar trajectory as that shown by Rick Altman in his study, Film/Genre . Bingham also addresses the male biopic and the female biopic as distinct genres from each other, the former generally dealing with great accomplishments, the latter generally dealing with female victimization. Ellen Cheshire's Bio-Pics:

423-1081: A king in Leicester Cathedral . The closing credits say the royal family 's website has reinstated Richard as the rightful King of England 1483–1485, so that he is no longer regarded as a usurper. Langley was awarded an MBE for her work. Also appearing are: Jessica Hardwick as Bookseller, Robert Jack as Alex, John-Paul Hurley as Buckingham , Nomaan Khan as Anil, Sinead MacInnes as Hiker, Phoebe Pryce as Jo Appleby, Alasdair Hankinson as Mathew Morris, James Rottger as Richmond, Benjamin Scanlan as Raife Langley, Mahesh Patel as Foreign Dignitary (uncredited), Sharon Osdin as Buckley's PA, Glenna Morrison as Lorna, Adam Robb as Max Langley, Simon Donaldson as Graham, Kern Falconer as Ken, Violet Hughes as School Girl 1, Josie O'Brien as School Girl 2, Robert Maloney as Heckling Bar Customer (uncredited), Lukas Svoboda as Car Seller (uncredited), Iman Akhtar as Receptionist, Lati Gbaja as Shopper (uncredited). Philippa Langley makes

470-661: A lack of resemblance between the two. The casting of John Wayne as Genghis Khan in The Conqueror was objected to because of the American Wayne being cast as the Mongol warlord. Egyptian critics criticized the casting of Louis Gossett Jr. , an African American actor, as Egyptian president Anwar Sadat in the 1983 TV miniseries Sadat . Also, some objected to the casting of Jennifer Lopez in Selena because she

517-444: A life in pictures (2014) examines UK/US films from the 1990s and 2000s. Each chapter reviews key films linked by profession and concludes with further viewing list. Christopher Robé has also written on the gender norms that underlie the biopic in his article, "Taking Hollywood Back" in the 2009 issue of Cinema Journal . Roger Ebert defended The Hurricane and distortions in biographical films in general, stating "those who seek

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564-406: A reasonable viewer to believe that Taylor had misrepresented facts to the media and the public, had marginalized Langley's role, and had behaved in a smug, dismissive and patronizing manner. The ruling allowed the case to proceed to a full trial, requiring Coogan, Baby Cow, and Pathé to defend the portrayal of Taylor in the film. Biographical film Biopic scholars include George F. Custen of

611-652: A variety of locations in the Edinburgh area, including Morningside and Dalkeith . The film premiered at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival , and was released in UK cinemas on 7 October 2022. IFC Films had acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film. It was then released in the US the following year on 24 March 2023. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 77% of 124 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "The movie's curiously bland compared to

658-490: A work trip. She meets Dr Ashdown-Hill , who is publishing a genetic genealogy study on a Canadian direct descendant of Richard III's sister. He tells her to look for Richard in open spaces in Leicester because people for centuries have avoided building over old abbeys. While walking around Leicester looking for the ancient site of Greyfriars, and seeing apparitions of Richard, she gets a strong feeling that an "R" painted on

705-492: Is Oscar-worthy". Likewise, Heat and iNews gave the film four out of five stars, with the latter stating "Coogan is marvellous". Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film two stars out of five, commenting on the "uneven" nature of the script and that scenes with Richard III "make the film odd and unrelaxed", while these scenes were praised in Matthew McMillan's four-star review for The Upcoming , for imbuing

752-1009: Is a New York City native of Puerto Rican descent while Selena was Mexican American . Because the figures portrayed are actual people, whose actions and characteristics are known to the public (or at least historically documented), biopic roles are considered some of the most demanding of actors and actresses. Warren Beatty , Faye Dunaway , Ben Kingsley , Johnny Depp , Jim Carrey , Jamie Foxx , Robert Downey Jr. , Brad Pitt , Emma Thompson , Tom Hanks , Eddie Redmayne , and Cillian Murphy all gained new-found respect as dramatic actors after starring in biopics: Beatty and Dunaway as Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker in Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi in Gandhi (1982), Depp as Ed Wood in Ed Wood (1994), Carrey as Andy Kaufman in Man on

799-488: Is a fantasy of the film's anti-intellectual agenda". In February 2024, Richard Taylor initiated legal action for libel against Steve Coogan, the production company Baby Cow , and the distributors Pathé, regarding his portrayal in The Lost King . Taylor claimed his character, as played by Lee Ingleby, was depicted in a highly negative "patronising and misogynistic" manner, and that the film suggested he took credit for

846-526: Is true the University invited me to address the conference but as the 13th of 13 speakers, long after the live TV news feed had ended. As for the general whereabouts of the extensive Greyfriars precinct – where some (not all) believed Richard III might be buried – yes this was known, but no one knew the layout of the buildings and therefore where the Greyfriars Church itself (and therefore

893-634: The 47th Toronto International Film Festival on 10 September 2022 and was released in the United Kingdom on 7 October. The Lost King received generally positive reviews from critics. Living in Edinburgh , Philippa Langley loses a work promotion to a less experienced and better-looking woman. She unsuccessfully confronts her male boss about being passed over and also appeals that her myalgic encephalomyelitis (or "ME") has never affected her work. Distraught, her ex-husband John, who helps with their two teenage boys, tells her to keep her job as they need

940-645: The College of Staten Island and Dennis P. Bingham of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis . Custen, in Bio/Pics: How Hollywood Constructed Public History (1992), regards the genre as having died with the Hollywood studio era , and in particular, Darryl F. Zanuck . On the other hand, Bingham's 2010 study Whose Lives Are They Anyway? The Biopic as Contemporary Film Genre shows how it perpetuates as

987-509: The BBC: I'm portrayed as kind of a bullying, cynical, double-crossing, devious manipulator which is bad, but then when you add to that I behave in a sexist way and a way that seems to mock Richard III's disabilities, you start to get into the realm of defamation. The filmmakers responded to Taylor by saying: The university's version of events has been extensively documented over the past 10 years. Philippa's recollection of events, as corroborated by

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1034-484: The King's remains was public knowledge prior to Philippa's intervention, however, we recognise she was the positive driving force behind the decision to dig for Richard III. Langley issued a rebuttal, calling the university's statement "misleading": Contrary to the misleading media statement issued by the University, I did feel side-lined (and continue to feel side-lined) by the University wrongly taking my credit for leading

1081-794: The Moon (1999), Downey as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin (1992) and as Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer (2023), Foxx as Ray Charles in Ray (2004), Thompson and Hanks as P. L. Travers and Walt Disney in Saving Mr. Banks (2013), Redmayne as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything (2014), and Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer in Oppenheimer (2023). Some biopics purposely stretch

1128-399: The archaeologists. Following the UK première of the film the University of Leicester issued a press release, including the following abstract: We worked closely with Philippa Langley throughout the project, and she was not sidelined by the University. Indeed, she formed part of the team interview panel for every single press conference connected to the King. The suggested whereabouts of

1175-515: The body of the King) might be (if he wasn't in the River Soar as most leading historians then believed). Only through my intuition and research was the precise area identified where the dig should take place. In a matter of hours of starting to dig, the King's remains were revealed. If the University (and everyone else) knew exactly where to dig, why hadn't they done so before? Richard Taylor said to

1222-625: The building of the relevant place of worship (which can date back to the 6th to 14th centuries) and were often used by those families who could not afford to be buried inside or beneath the place of worship itself. However, many churchyards in Northwestern France and in the UK may predate the establishment of the Christian church there today. For example, existence of the Fortingall Yew , an ancient tree ( Taxus baccata ) in

1269-462: The churchyard of Fortingall , a village in Perthshire , Scotland, has been used to suggest pre-Christian activity on the site, although yews are difficult to date exactly. Most headstones and other memorials are of the 17th century at the earliest, as ground would often be reused for further burials and only some families could afford any memorials. The use of churchyards as burial grounds for

1316-478: The churchyard, often led also to the removal and permanent loss of centuries-old graves and headstones. In some cases the human remains were exhumed and the gravestones transferred. In other cases, all headstones have been removed, to create a park-like environment, or simply to facilitate the seasonal cutting and removal of grass or weeds . In at least one case in the United States , the headstones from

1363-407: The deceased was diminished all over Europe in various stages between the 18th to 19th centuries due to lack of space for new headstones . In many European states, burial in churchyards was outlawed altogether either by royal decrees or government legislation for public hygiene reasons and portions of churchyards were taken in order for roads to be built or expanded. The loss of part (or all) of

1410-435: The discovery, which he asserted was primarily Langley's achievement. On 14 June 2024, a high court judge ruled that the portrayal of Taylor in the film was defamatory. The judge, Mr Justice Lewis, noted that the character was consistently depicted negatively throughout the film. Although the judge rejected Taylor's argument that the portrayal suggested misogyny or sexism, he concluded that the film's overall depiction would lead

1457-471: The film "with an offbeat allure", describing the film as "a treat […] spearheaded by Hawkins's performance, and guided by the dexterity of Frears's craft". The film made The Guardian readers' "best films of 2022 list" with the reviewer stating "As a lecturer myself, I particularly enjoyed the way the film pricked the bubble of academic arrogance". Kyle Smith in the Wall Street Journal praised

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1504-473: The film portrays science unfairly, and in a manner that is closed to outsiders. Pitts later responded angrily to the film's review in The Guardian readers' "best films of 2022 list" where it was praised for having "pricked the bubble of academic arrogance", responding to the newspaper that: "Contrary to movie PR and most media coverage, however, its key thread is fiction: the “bubble of academic arrogance”

1551-568: The film saying, "As it ticks along from one small but crucial development to another, this climax is far more exciting than any part of any superhero movie I've seen in recent months". In March 2023, the New York Times added the film to its "Critic's Pick" list. Sally Hawkins' performance was nominated for a BIFA in 2022. The film itself was longlisted by BIFA in 2023 for the Outstanding British Film category. Based on

1598-540: The filmmakers' research, is very different. British archaeologist and academic Mike Pitts , who had written Digging for Richard III: The Search for the Lost King in 2015 with the team from the University of Leicester archeology department, described the film as "a misleading saga based on a farrago of untruths and omissions". He says that by showing a "phalanx of male archaeologists and administrators, interested only in furthering their own careers at Langley's expense",

1645-460: The money comes in from around the world to fund three trenches. On day one of the dig, Buckley tells Langley that the dig certificate has been signed, but does not tell her that her name has been omitted. Philippa gets Buckley to start trench one at the painted "R" spot, and they immediately find the legs of a skeleton. Buckley thinks it is an extramural graveyard for monks. Philippa confronts Taylor onsite for now falsely claiming credit for leading

1692-483: The money. Philippa attends the play Richard III , and identifies with Richard whom she feels was unfairly maligned as a hunchback, child killer, and usurper. She begins to have visions of Richard who appears to her. She joins the local Richard III Society who believe he was unfairly vilified by Tudor propagandists . Philippa stops going to work, manages her ME with medication, and begins talking to her Richard III apparition. Her research shows some sources say he

1739-462: The parish as the centre of the Christian spiritual life, the possession of a cemetery, as well as the baptismal font, was a mark of parochial status. During the Middle Ages, religious orders also constructed cemeteries around their churches. Thus, the most common use of churchyards was as a consecrated burial ground known as a graveyard . Graveyards were usually established at the same time as

1786-442: The project. While still only on day one of the dig, she insists on stopping all work to focus on the skeleton in trench one. Buckley angrily relents and goes home while the crew digs the skeleton. The osteologist soon sees that it is indeed Richard III, a 30-year-old male with a badly-curved spine and a death blow to the skull. After the success of the first day of digging, the University of Leicester leaders rush in to take over

1833-403: The project. They re-hire Buckley. In February 2013, Taylor announces their findings to the world at a University of Leicester press conference, at which Phillippa is largely sidelined, even by Buckley. Buckley is later given an honorary doctorate by the university. Richard appears to Philippa a final time at Bosworth Field ; he thanks her, and rides off. Richard is shown getting a funeral fit for

1880-412: The remarkable real-life story it dramatizes, but Sally Hawkins' performance saves The Lost King from feeling like a royal disappointment." Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned a score of 64 out of 100 based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favourable reviews". Hawkins' performance was met with critical acclaim. The Evening Standard ' s four-star review stated "Sally Hawkins

1927-413: The search for the King's remains. The only press conference that mattered was the one on 4 February 2013 to confirm that the remains were those of Richard III. That conference was the one attended by the world's media. I was not invited by the University to sit on the panel that faced the journalists and the University wrongly presented themselves as leading the search that I had commissioned and paid for. It

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1974-525: The shrine may be in the middle of the car park that Philippa had felt strongly about. Philippa and Buckley team up. She pitches it to Leicester City Council . Richard Taylor of the University of Leicester advises that her amateur "feeling" is too risky. The Council still approves her plan for the publicity, but when ground-radar finds nothing, funding drops out. She turns to the Richard III Society to crowd-fund her "Looking For Richard," and

2021-413: The trailer, some of the lead University of Leicester archaeologists involved in the story did not feel that the film's presentation as "the true story" was correct and that it had under-represented their involvement in the project. Langley contends that the archaeologists took undue credit for finding the remains of Richard III given that she had led the search, raised the funding for the dig and commissioned

2068-472: The truth about a man from the film of his life might as well seek it from his loving grandmother. ... The Hurricane is not a documentary but a parable ." Casting can be controversial for biographical films. Casting is often a balance between similarity in looks and ability to portray the characteristics of the person. Anthony Hopkins felt that he should not have played Richard Nixon in Nixon because of

2115-474: The truth. Confessions of a Dangerous Mind was based on game show host Chuck Barris ' widely debunked yet popular memoir of the same name, in which he claimed to be a CIA agent. Kafka incorporated both the life of author Franz Kafka and the surreal aspects of his fiction. The Errol Flynn film They Died with Their Boots On tells the story of Custer but is highly romanticized. The Oliver Stone film The Doors , mainly about Jim Morrison ,

2162-561: Was buried in 1485 in the Leicester Greyfriars priory choir area, while others say his body was thrown into the River Soar . After Greyfriars was demolished in the 1530s Reformation , Leicester mayor Robert Herrick around 1600 had a shrine built in his garden saying "Here lies the body of Richard III, sometime king of England." Philippa attends a lecture in Leicester on Richard, lying to her ex-husband about it being

2209-1103: Was highly praised for the similarities between Jim Morrison and actor Val Kilmer , look-wise and singing-wise, but fans and band members did not like the way Val Kilmer portrayed Jim Morrison, and a few of the scenes were even completely made up. In rare cases, sometimes called auto biopics , the subject of the film plays themself. Examples include Jackie Robinson in The Jackie Robinson Story (1950), Muhammad Ali in The Greatest (1977), Audie Murphy in To Hell and Back (1955), Patty Duke in Call Me Anna (1990), Bob Mathias in The Bob Mathias Story (1954), Arlo Guthrie in Alice's Restaurant (1969), Fantasia in Life Is Not

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