A United Kingdom: the tale of a true
romance. This story begins in 1948. The Prince and future king
of Bechuanaland, current day Botswana, is studying in London. The
Prince, Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo), meets a British office worker, Ruth
Williams (Rosamund Pike), at a dance sponsored by the Church of
England. They learn they have a mutual love of jazz and, from this
initial conversation, their relationship grows into a romance and then into a
marriage. Placed against the backdrop of the late 1940’s/ 1950’s, the
political consequences of this interracial marriage are significant.
There is an initial divisiveness within the Botswana tribal community to
the interracial marriage. South Africa is implementing apartheid. The
law in neighboring Botswana is the equivalent of America’s Jim Crow
laws. Although the initial story is about Seretse and Ruth’s
courtship, the majority of this 111 minute film reaches far
beyond. It addresses the British government’s aggressive attempts to
undo the marriage and, when that fails, to evict Seretse from
Botswana. It also shows the segregation that the people of Botswana
were subjected to in their own country by outsiders. The film is not
kind to the British colonial system or to Winston Churchill. The
performance by David Oyelowo, presently one of film’s finest actors, is reason
enough to see A United Kingdom. Rosamund Pike also gives a
strong performance. The British colonialists are somewhat one
dimensional, especially Tom Felton, but given the history of the region, the
performances may be accurate. Guy Hibbert’s screenplay involves and
holds you as it moves beyond an interracial love story. The
source material is Colour Bar by Susan Williams. The film is
directed by Amma Asante, who also directed Belle, another film with an
interracial relationship at its core. At the film’s closing, we see
photos of the actual Seretse and Ruth. We learn that they prevailed and
that Seretse became President when Botswana won its independence in 1966.
As a footnote, Botswana has prospered as an independent country and the current
president is Seretse and Ruth’s son. This movie is both enjoyable
and a learning experience.
