MovieChat Forums > The Man Who Would Be King (1975) Discussion > Kipling's intent?

Kipling's intent?

posted 8 years ago by tpupkin
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I don't know how close this movie is to the original story. The movie can be fairly read as a light criticism of the jaunty "Gentleman's Adventurism" that fueled Britains colonial forces. Murder & exploitation of natives in the name of jolly good fun, and in the end what are they the kings of? A severed head in a crown.

Maybe this is Huston interjecting a post-modern view of colonialism. My impression of Kipling is that he would not broach this kind of moral gray area, but did he intend this kind of reading in this story?

[–] atiauo-756-233453 8 years ago

I read it. Huston didn't add the moral ambiguity. That's how Kipling wrote it. To Kipling, though, there was no ambiguity. He was 100% pro-colonialism. He's infamous for it. However, he could be very critical of the people in charge, and that's where TMWWBK comes in. He wanted to make colonialism more efficient, not question it's morality. Like you said, he wasn't one to explore moral gray areas.