User Reviews

Not only the acting, but also the subject makes this film seem unbelievably realistic. As I watched this movie at a European Film Festival in Trieste, Italy, I was basically speechless. Probably it doesn't mean much to the ones over the ocean but it has rather more to do with things going on here in Europe.

Movie presents the story of two kids bought from Ukraine directly from their father by an ex-circus master, now running some masked "school" of thieves. Actually the kids are brought into Germany and taught all the skills you need to be an amazing "pocket picker" just so that they can bring at least 500 EUR (don't know if EUR is the currency though) every day. When they don't they are whipped and thrown outside with their own blood covering their body. This is the fate of one of the two Ukrainian kids, Barbu, the 10 year old boy. The girl has a more horrible fate as she is lost in a poker game to a pimp. He first rapes the 13 year old Mimma then forces her to prostitute herself beating her like all the other bought/won minors he had.

As the story goes on it is unbelievable how good this film has been realized. It is shocking not by exaggeration but by how well it describes the frightening reality we live in. A must see; it will change your life if you realize it exposes the simple truth.

'Koenig der Diebe' ('King of Thieves') is a powerful indictment dealing with child slavery in the German marketplace. The subject is a tough one to watch but the writing, direction, acting, scenic design, and production of this brilliant film is so incredibly fine that is commands attention.

The story is a contemporary one, opening in The Ukraine where 10-year old Barbu (Iakov Kultiasov) and his 13-year old sister Mimma (Julia Khanverdieva) are staging a simple but really fine circus in the dusty little town center. Obviously living in fantasy of circus life, they greet the scrubby but congenial Caruso (Lazar Ristovski) as he rides into town tossing candy to the kids. Caruso is an ex-circus owner who is now in the trade of child trafficking and when he sees the buoyant and irresistible Barbu he decides to 'buy' him from the father. Barbu is thrilled but insists Mimma go with him to 'join the big circus' in Berlin: the father consents (accepting money for the purchase of his children) and the three drive off to their new destinies. Barbu and Caruso bond despite the language barrier - Caruso speaks German, Barbu speaks Russian, but they manage to communicate on certain levels. At the Ukrainian/Slovakian border Caruso is stopped and the children he has gathered disperse (Caruso promises to meet Barbu in Berlin and bring Mimma with him). Barbu sets out across country and eventually arrives in Berlin, full of hopes and fantasies ('I am Barbu, King of the Circus'), only to discover through his new found friend, Albanian boy Marcel (Oktay Ozdemir), that the 'circus' Caruso runs has no audience, but instead is a 'school' for teaching children how to steal to support him.

Caruso lives in a circus tent with a shaved-headed woman Julie (Katharina Thalbach) who is addicted to drugs administered by Caruso to relieve her constant pain (we learn that her pain comes from a trapeze act accident when Caruso failed to catch her resulting in a traumatic fall). Also in the 'circus' are two thugs who police the activities of the boys' thefts. The ever-optimistic Barbu still imagines he will be the king of the circus but is appalled as he gradually discovers the realities of the life of thievery, crime, and most of all that Mimma has been sold into prostitution to a loathsome cruel pimp Kardinal (Paulus Manker). This discovery pushes Barbu to acts of theft to gain money to buy back his sister, but the obstacles he meets along the way emphasize the incredible brutality and cruelty of Caruso and his cohorts. The manner in which the film ends is best left to the viewer to discover, but it is one that will make an indelible imprint on the psyche and heart of those fortunate enough to see this work of art.

Ivan Fila, born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, is a gifted writer and director. Despite the heart wrenching story matter, he allows us to see all sides of the child trafficking business - including the bonding among the children and the transient feelings of power and success as they learn 'new trade'. The actors in this drama are absolutely extraordinary: few child actors can match the performance of Iakov Kultiasov as Barbu, and this is his first experience at acting! The set decoration, lighting, costumes, scenery, cinematography, and musical score by Michael Kocab are as atmospheric as anything ever filmed! KING OF THIEVES is an amazingly fine film, but audiences should be warned that it has moments of violence that are difficult to watch. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp

There are few films that deserve 10 out of 10. Maybe, sometimes, there should be a "remarkable" 10 for a vote.

This film, definitely, deserves the best. Many reasons are the ones that make a film outstanding.

All ingredients must have a delicate amount of perfection to make a film plausible, moving, entertaining, realistic (if its not an openly fictitious work), creative, timeless and memorable.

Ivan Fila, as many Czech filmmakers, knows the hardships of life firsthand. No one can tell him what happened in 1989 and the myriad options that emerged from a new situation when the Czech world crumbled. The realities after communism, became sour, incredibly hard and completely new for all the peoples behind the Iron Wall.

At least form my experience, most of the films made since 1989 in the Czech Republic are full of reminiscences of a world you can't forget. The subject matter is usually really strong. Even by Central Europe standards, some depictions are, to say the least, unnerving.

Here, the beauty of the characters and the opposing sides of darkness and light, sweetness and sourness, good and evil, joy and sadness, hope and despair, are depicted in a masterful way.

The creative process involved in production needed what could amount to a big-budget American film. But many actors were new on screen. Most of them may be seen just once, and the chance is just in this film. So, the money and the power of creating atmospheres and places that could tell the story as it was written, was done with limited resources, used to their limits.

There's a sense of joy and doom from the very start. Creepiness is the word that best describes Caruso, the main character which plays a role essential to the whole story. The acting is superb. Some people would object saying that the acting is a bit over the top. But the character demands this kind of silliness and cruelty together to make him believable. The life Ristovski gave to Caruso is memorable.

As for Iakov Kultiasov, who embodies the súper-petite Barbu is, nonetheless, superior to any other character. A child with formal education on circus, turned actor overnight. He did a superb job. His demeanor can change from the most exhilarating sense of freedom, to the most somber and frenzied child.

As noted before in another comment, this film delves in the world of the Underground. Full of crime and scenes that will melt or stop your heart, it works just like a window open to the darkest pits of human nature and the brightest moments brought by the innocence in Barbu's eyes.

Cinematographically, there are ingredients that even the top of the tops in commercial cinematography will recognise as thorough perfection: lighting is never obvious, with the exceptions of some dream-sequences; steadicam use is effective and powerful, never intruding in the story-telling; night shots are masterful, without the typical super-strong blue lights, darkness is attained with all its inherent graininess and takes the darkest moments to their limit (look at a shot in a van with Barbu in the boot). Yes, as cinematography goes, in this film, it goes to where many cinematographers don't want to go: available light, cramped quarters, open public spaces, hundreds of moving objects, et cetera.

The story will linger with you, maybe forever. This is not a film to be forgotten. It IS brutal. It IS believable. It IS sad. But it IS a masterpiece.

Music, garments, locations and situations were chosen to make this film as alive as possible. You get acquainted with every character. Katharina Tallbach plays a character, Julie, that gives this film it's counterpoint to Caruso. A masterfully balanced act that is set on a hinge fragile and obvious, but works with subtlety and grace. And so it goes for Oktay Özdemir who plays Marcel. It's impossible not to take sides with EVERY character. Sometimes, you find out that you have taken both sides with one of them! I would not recommend watching this film with children, I'd rather say it's an adult film, and even any adult with conscience will cringe sometimes.

If you want to experience what I've already said, please watch this film and drop me a line. My students and myself will appreciate it.

I have just eliminated a longer analysis of this movie. It cannot even give you a hint what this movie is about.

I have seldomly seen a movie in the last four decades that has touched me into my innermost existence like this movie did. Why is this movie practically unknown instead of having been given 12 Oscars? You see the most stunning performances by Katharina Thalbach and Lazar Ristovski. You witness a heart-beating dramaturgy which can even afford to do without suspense at all. You experience a story from yonder, where the Iron Curtain was, a story that is lead out before your very eyes in the utmost brutality than any human can experience - and yet: watch out! There are those little hinges that make the coherence in this movie, and these hinges come from the land of the fairy-tales which is densely interwoven into our reality.