The Forgotten Kingdom review: A beautifully crafted feature with glorious visuals, engaging themes and excellent performances from its young cast.
The Forgotten Kingdom review
The Forgotten Kingdom is a delightful little film. This Africa-set movie revolves around troubled Johannesburg teenager Atang, who is forced to leave the bright lights of the big city to travel to his former homeland, a remote village named Lesotho, to bury his estranged father. While there, Atang meets with his childhood friend Dineo, and over the following 100 minutes, Atang finds himself becoming drawn to the rolling mountains, the beautiful landscapes, the people and the very different way of life that now surrounds him.
Andrew Mudge‘s Southern Sotho-language film has certainly taken its time to get a UK release (it was released initially in a selective run in the United States back in 2013), and while its run in the UK is very limited, it’s very much worth seeking out if you can. Slow-burning and pondering it may be, but it is also beautifully crafted with breath-taking visuals, and extraordinary performances from its young cast, particularly the three leads; Zenzo Ngqobe who plays Atang, Nozipho Nkelemba as Dineo and Lebohang Ntsane, who appears in the role of the young, unnamed orphaned boy, Atang’s guide through the wilderness of his ‘forgotten kingdom.’
The Forgotten Kingdom review
Themes of new beginnings, fate and discovery are ever-present throughout, and it’s impossible not to be charmed by the engaging narrative. Mudge’s story draws the viewer in from the opening scenes, and the filmmaker takes us on a journey that is memorable long after the credits roll.
The Forgotten Kingdom review by Paul Heath, August 2015.
The Forgotten Kingdom receives a limited UK release on Friday 21st August 2015.
