King of the Hill (film)

The 1993 film King of the Hill -- not to be confused with Mike Judge's animated cartoon of the same name -- was Steven Soderbergh's third feature film, and the second he directed from his own screenplay following his 1989 Palme d'Or-winning effort sex, lies, and videotape.

Related Topics:
1993 - Mike Judge - Cartoon - Same name - Steven Soderbergh - 1989 - Palme d'Or - Sex, lies, and videotape

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Based on the Depression-era bildungsroman memoir of writer A. E. Hotchner, it follows the story of two brothers struggling to survive on their own in a fleabag hotel in St. Louis while their mother is committed to a sanatorium with tuberculosis and their father, a traveling salesman, is off on long trips from which they can't be certain he will return.

Related Topics:
Depression - Bildungsroman - A. E. Hotchner - St. Louis - Sanatorium - Tuberculosis - Traveling salesman

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The film is distinctive in part because the antagonists who drive much of the plot are relatively mild by cinematic standards. The two primary ones -- a cop on his beat and a hotel porter -- share the characteristic of taking joy and pride in sadistically enforcing the property rights of the rich against the poor. The actual rich, with the exception of some schoolmates, are not a direct part of the boys' lives; rather, from their perspective, it is the uniformed caste set just above them that generates much of their misery. As such, the film is an unusual commentary on social relations among the underclasses, all the more so within that subgenre since it contains relatively little physical violence (though it does contain some blood.)

Related Topics:
Antagonists - Cop - Porter - Sadistically - Property rights - Uniformed - Caste - Underclasses - Subgenre - Violence - Blood

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Jesse Bradford, who was 14 at the film's release, is the protagonist. Many actors in the supporting cast have had many other prominent roles, including Jeroen Krabbé, Lisa Eichhorn, Karen Allen, Spalding Gray, Elizabeth McGovern, and Adrien Brody. The film also contains the first screen roles of Joe Chrest as the porter and Lauryn Hill, who appears in a small part as an elevator operator.

Related Topics:
Jesse Bradford - Jeroen Krabbé - Lisa Eichhorn - Karen Allen - Spalding Gray - Elizabeth McGovern - Adrien Brody - Joe Chrest - Lauryn Hill

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