Eddie Murphy remains one of those actors who, like it or not, comes recalled within the history of cinema not so much for its intellectual role, or for the contributions to the medium itself, as for the lightness of his approaches and his characters who, both socially and at the box office, have always lived in the collective imagination not only in America but also in the world. It is precisely this one of the most interesting features of this actor who, over the years '80 e '90, he managed to build an image capable of enhancing him as an interpreter and above all trasformista succeeding, in some specific cases (think for example "An armchair for two"), to transcend time often, becoming a true model of a specific time of year. One of his most iconic films was The prince seeks a wife, the 1988. It was precisely his great success with the public that projected Eddie's image even more outside the American bubble, to the point that 30 years later, it was seriously thought of making a sequel, which saw the light this year with the title de The Prince seeks a son, currently present in the catalog of Amazon Prime Video.
The Prince is looking for a son and a style that looks to the past
One of the very first features that catches the eye with this The Prince is looking for a son is just that style general adopted by its director Craig brewer. From the very first scene the film oscillates between the time that has passed from the events we all know and the present. This oscillation, however, does not tend to characterize and design only the narrative time in which the events are transposed, but also the time within theevolution of the cinema itself. In fact, cinema has changed and with it also the genre in which the screenplay originates, with a 'perceptual-social evolution which has embraced not only the medium itself, but also and above all the public with whom it tries to approach.
In short, this film, in its “talk”, seems to be stuck in a past which today is quite particular in its understanding. It is a comedy that tries to draw on the years in which its prequel was born, resulting in many situations rather out of the ordinary. contemporary canons. This remains one of the most curious choices, and it is something that is not limited to developing only in the dialogues, but that returns punctually in the general structure of the film, highlighting a general composition between "The cringe" and nostalgic forced.
History and themes
In Il Principe looks for a son we find our protagonist by now quite a lot grown up and ready to become re. His past choices have led to the birth of one family apparently happy. Apparently, due to the lack of a male heir in an obviously archaic and extremely conservative context in its approach, above all, towards issues of gender and power. Not having had an heir will therefore lead the current king in search of his son, following the discovery that he had one during the previous experience. Blazer. All under the pressure of the last words of his father and the General Izzi, who tries in every way to threaten the kingdom of Zamunda.
Therefore the narrative dynamics result immediately from the beginning recognizable, with this umpteenth shipment (dotted with faces known to those who saw the first film) but, this time, channels the various reflections not on racial and social perception in the American context, but on personal growth of the protagonist and above all on gender issue. The Prince is looking for a son, in fact, makes himself modern and contemporary above all for his cultural trifles, even if suffocated by the various ideas grotesques to mark its path.
Change without changing
The fact of taking up again a protagonist like the one played by Eddie Murphy in the 80s, and to represent him in relation to our modernity, thus giving shape to a cultural contrast net, it could undoubtedly have led to much more deep and thorough. Of course, this remains a film that from the beginning he doesn't take himself too seriously, does not arise in an intellectual way, laying the foundations for a deliberately light and carefree transposition, and this is precisely how this work should be understood. The exaggerations of some developments, the rather old choreographies, the jokes and the characterization of some events, clearly recall a past of comedy that today could be quite out of place for many, also thanks to the generational evolution and the transformation of the various cinematographic models. , who have made this genre something different and, in some contexts, even committed.
One of the failings which has been heard most in The Prince seeks a son, at least in the our version, in the adaptation, remains the voice of the legendary voice actor of Eddie Murphy, Tonino Accolla, unfortunately passed away. The expressive centrality remains curious, at least in the perception of this actor, of the voice of the famous voice actor, who over the years had managed to characterize Murphy's performances also through some habits who, in our land, became iconographic, models of immediate recognition. The work with the current film, speaking of the voice actors, is still well done even if, especially the most nostalgic, they will feel this difference with the past.
