"Harlequin" deals with a career politician whose young son is mortally ill. The child gets better - or at least, seems to get better - after meeting an enigmatic stranger who could be a clown, a magician, a fraudster, a teacher and/or a miracle worker. Chaos ensues...
Now this is an unusual movie, situated somewhere at the crossroads between political satire, horror and fantasy/science fiction. It even includes a history lesson in the shape of an update of the Rasputin episode, what with a morally ambiguous stranger with unexplained powers causing havoc at the top levels of government.
"Harlequin" scores a ten out of ten with regard to both ambition and originality. It also offers some juicy roles to good actors (I especially liked David Hemmings here, as a weak-willed politician with a fading pretty-boy charm). However, I would not call it a wholly successful movie. The main problem here is that it finds it difficult to tell a clear and overarching story. Parts of it are scary, weird and striking, but these parts do not coalesce into an harmonious whole. This means that it lacks, well, meaning. As a bemused viewer, you may well find yourself thinking a) what did I just watch ? And b) why did I watch it ?
Still, some of the political barbs are still as relevant anno Domini 2021 as they were forty years ago. Beware the politicians surrounded by a constellation of rabbis, backers, patrons, groomers, bodyguards and image consultants...
Now this is an unusual movie, situated somewhere at the crossroads between political satire, horror and fantasy/science fiction. It even includes a history lesson in the shape of an update of the Rasputin episode, what with a morally ambiguous stranger with unexplained powers causing havoc at the top levels of government.
"Harlequin" scores a ten out of ten with regard to both ambition and originality. It also offers some juicy roles to good actors (I especially liked David Hemmings here, as a weak-willed politician with a fading pretty-boy charm). However, I would not call it a wholly successful movie. The main problem here is that it finds it difficult to tell a clear and overarching story. Parts of it are scary, weird and striking, but these parts do not coalesce into an harmonious whole. This means that it lacks, well, meaning. As a bemused viewer, you may well find yourself thinking a) what did I just watch ? And b) why did I watch it ?
Still, some of the political barbs are still as relevant anno Domini 2021 as they were forty years ago. Beware the politicians surrounded by a constellation of rabbis, backers, patrons, groomers, bodyguards and image consultants...