The White King review: Gyorgy Dragoman’s novel arrives in the big-screen courtesy of directors Alex Helfrecht, and Jorg Tittel.
The White King review continues below.
The White King follows the Fitz family: Peter (Ross Patridge), his wife Hannah (Agyness Deyn), and their son, Djata (Lorenzo Allchurch). We see them as a happy, loving family. However, when Peter is taken by law enforcement, and labelled a traitor to the brutal dictatorship they live under, Djata and Hannah find themselves dealing with tough situations too, now imprisoned and outcast. Despite this, though, Djata will stop at nothing to see his father again.
Based on the novel of the same name, by Gyorgy Dragoman, The White King has all the telltale signs of a good film: promising, young directors in Alex Helfrecht, and Jorg Tittel; a great cast; a story with lots of potential. Whilst it is by no means a bad film, it’s not necessarily great either and you can’t help but feel a little disappointed by the wasted opportunity here. As is the case with any dystopian world, there is a lot of world-building to be done, to establish this place to the viewer and to introduce them to the rules and get them invested. The dystopia established in The White King feels a little underwhelming and convoluted. The screenplay is all over the place and feels so contrived and lacklustre.
It feels as though this film was very rushed; it takes no time to setup this world and is bogged down with so much exposition because it can’t find a way to seamlessly establish what’s going on to the audience. It makes no sense either; things just happen for the sake of driving the narrative further, and it’s as Tittel and Helfrecht are cramming way too much into the brief 90 minute run-time. The world feels so one-dimensional and the narrative feels so contrived, which ultimately deflates the entire proceedings. Aside from this, though, the visuals are astounding, with some stunning cinematography, and a very prominent score too.
The screenplay also, at least, does a good job of creating compelling characters in the Fitz family – Peter, Hannah, Djata. We invest in their characters and empathise with them through their trials and tribulations. The acting is pretty solid too, adding to the nuance of the characters, and how much we invest. There is palpable chemistry between Patridge, Deyn, and Allchurch, making their loving family dynamic all the more believable, and making their stories in the narrative all the more impactful. Allchurch, especially, turns in some commendable work. Child actors tend to be hit or miss, with very few actually giving good performances, but Allchurch is incredibly convincing, especially for such an emotionally charged role.
As far as dystopian films go, The White King is pretty paint-by-numbers and nothing new. This is a very tired genre with very tired entries all suffering the same problems, and this is no exception. It’s certainly a superbly-acted and beautiful looking piece of film, that is entertaining in chunks every so often, but is fairly convoluted and lacklustre for the most part. It’s a shame too, because it had the potential to be something unique.
The White King review by Awais Irfan, January 2017.
The White King is released in selected UK cinemas on Friday 27th January, 2017.
