Struggling against saving his father, Djata, a young smart teenager, who lives in isolation with his family, who after the imprisonment of his father goes in the run and rebels to have him out of the prison.
The White King is a bold and brave piece of filmmaking that embraces film as an incomplete form. The ideas are presented in such a way that they require the engagement of the audience.
The makers have clearly thought about what a future reversion to twentieth century-style tyranny would look like, and the design, anthems and details all ring true.
Co-directors Alex Helfrecht and Jörg Tittel devise a convincingly scary dystopia crossing Nazi Germany with Stalin's Russia. Too bad Helfrecht's script lets it down.
The White King is a respectable first feature, but one that would have benefitted from refinement and nuance - a good few moves behind the best films in the genre.
