The Black Prince tells the true story of Duleep Singh, son of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, who is indoctrinated by the British Empire in the mid to late 19th Century. His story is a tragic one as he attempts to regain control of the kingdom that was taken from him at an early age.
The filmmakers have tried, rather successfully, to cram a hugely complex and interesting story into the confines of a feature film, and while this is admirable, this means that the film occasionally zig-zags between locations with hardly a pause to breathe.
The film dealt with its politics cautiously; equality displayed regarding both sides of the conflict between the British and the Sikhs. The film holds back from showing all English people as evil arch-villains, despite them all being very prim and proper.
Overall, The Black Prince does its best to tell a tragic and true story about an area of history rarely touched upon by modern culture, dealing with issues such as colonialism and patriotism. It does feel rushed at times; characters age years and travel hundreds of miles in the blink of an eye. Therefore, we miss a lot of character development, and sometimes the film assumes you know what a character will be thinking or feeling.
Overall, though, The Black Prince is a brave film about a historic injustice, raising issues that are still relevant today.