Based on a novel that was originally set in communist Eastern Europe, The White King is a depressing coming of age story about a young boy trying to circumnavigate a totalitarian society whilst his father is sent away to a prison camp.
The film is a mixture of hunger games speculative fiction and oppressive regime drama. It's well made all round with a fitting score, stated direction and production design that really brings out the poverty and misery that goes hand in hand with the majority of large communist states.
You know why it's depressing. You don't need me to detail out the countless depictions of cruelty against the innocent and corruption of youth that's in every film like this. What i feel i do need to tell you though is the film has a feeling that it's incomplete. Maybe it was the lackluster ending, but The White King felt like it cared more about the world the story took place in rather than the story itself. There were too many loose ends let's put it. It makes for a very episodic narrative that is not really all that engrossing.
The reason why The White King had so much power for me was because there were many scenes of cruelty and barbarism, near back to back. The White King holds you hostage. It's not as oppressive as The White Ribbon, but you don't end up developing Stockholm syndrome either. I felt at times the film did not know what it wanted to either do or say. I can only conclude by saying The White King is a high quality production with decent acting, but a slow meandering narrative.
The film is a mixture of hunger games speculative fiction and oppressive regime drama. It's well made all round with a fitting score, stated direction and production design that really brings out the poverty and misery that goes hand in hand with the majority of large communist states.
You know why it's depressing. You don't need me to detail out the countless depictions of cruelty against the innocent and corruption of youth that's in every film like this. What i feel i do need to tell you though is the film has a feeling that it's incomplete. Maybe it was the lackluster ending, but The White King felt like it cared more about the world the story took place in rather than the story itself. There were too many loose ends let's put it. It makes for a very episodic narrative that is not really all that engrossing.
The reason why The White King had so much power for me was because there were many scenes of cruelty and barbarism, near back to back. The White King holds you hostage. It's not as oppressive as The White Ribbon, but you don't end up developing Stockholm syndrome either. I felt at times the film did not know what it wanted to either do or say. I can only conclude by saying The White King is a high quality production with decent acting, but a slow meandering narrative.