Nicholas Hytner trusts actors and good dialogue, with humane, frequently funny results. His assured handling of Alan Bennett’s writing makes The Madness of King George our starting point, despite its excessive faith in firm-handed authority.
Fi1m perspective
In The Madness of King George (1994), Andrew Dunn keeps the royal interiors composed and orderly while Nigel Hawthorne makes the man at their centre painfully vulnerable. Hytner gives the dialogue room, but never lets Bennett’s wit make the king’s distress seem trivial. We were moved by Hawthorne’s performance because the king remains difficult even when he most needs kindness. Hytner does not ask him to become agreeable before allowing us to care.
The film was his feature debut, adapted from his National Theatre production of Bennett’s play. He had already been directing opera and theatre since the early 1980s, and his attention to ensembles makes sense in that light. The Crucible (1996) took him to Arthur Miller’s writing; The History Boys (2006) paired Bennett’s writing with the original stage cast. The Lady in the Van (2015) brought another Bennett play to the screen with Maggie Smith. Their collaboration extends to original screen material with The Choral (2025).
Yet The Madness of King George is not confined to people delivering good lines in grand rooms. Ken Adam’s production design gives the court’s concern for dignity a persuasive setting, and Hytner uses the outdoor passages to relieve the controlled interiors. Helen Mirren’s Queen Charlotte brings affection that does not depend on the king behaving well. Between her performance and Hawthorne’s, Hytner keeps the personal cost visible when the court’s manoeuvring threatens to take over.
Our reservation is that the film places too much trust in the man promising to impose order. Its handsome surroundings can also make the court seem more deserving of affection than it is. There is a separate risk in Hytner’s loyalty to theatrical writing: The History Boys has drawn criticism for feeling stage-bound. Preserving a cast and its dialogue is a sound reason to make a film, but it cannot be the whole job. Start with The Madness of King George; save the argument about authority for afterwards.
Biography
Nicholas Hytner is an English theatre and film director and producer. He was born on 7 May 1956 in Didsbury, Manchester. He was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he read English.
Hytner began his career in theatre, directing productions at venues including the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester and the Royal National Theatre, where he served as artistic director from 2003 to 2015. He is known for stage successes including Miss Saigon and The History Boys. His feature film debut was directing The Madness of King George (1994), which he also adapted from Alan Bennett's play. Subsequent films include The Crucible (1996), The Object of My Affection (1998), Center Stage (2000), The History Boys (2006), The Lady in the Van (2015) and The Choral (2025).
Hytner was knighted in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to drama. He co-founded the Bridge Theatre in London in 2017.
