An idyllic family picnic by the lake, looking like a perfect scene from 1950s America. But the widespread presence of surveillance cameras, and a gigantic Soviet-style statue looking down from the hill, suggest a totalitarian regime set in the near future. When the family return home the police are waiting to take away father Peter, something he'd clearly been expecting.
Eleven year old Djata is told by his mother, Hannah, that dad will be away working for a while. But the truth can't be long hidden from him, not least because the pair begin to find themselves being ostracised as a traitor's family. Djata tries to persuade his paternal grandfather, a high ranking government official, to intervene, but he claims he's done all he can - and tries to further indoctrinate the boy into the ways of the dictatorship.
Djata tries to find out about his father for himself, later helped by Hannah, but there is no way they can compete with the resources of the all powerful state apparatus. When they finally get to see Peter again it's on the government's terms, not theirs.
Filmed in Hungary, the regime in the source novel was broadly based on Ceaușescu's Romania, and the tyranny portrayed feels like an at-odds mix of East European communism and far right fascism. The trident symbol of the party is everywhere, people are placed in torture camps without charge, and there is great emphasis placed on loyalty to Homeland and 'making our country great'.
[I wonder why that latter phrase sounds so familiar this week....?]
The film lacks a coherent sense of place, with a curious mix of accents and stilted language. Having people say "Hey There!" instead of "Cheers" doesn't work as a means to evoke a culture, but sounds more like a scriptwriter running out of ideas. Indeed much of the script has a curiously stilted feel to it. There are also sub plots that do nothing to contribute to the overall story, such as the violent feud between Djata and his friends against a couple of older bullies.
There are some fine performances, within these limitations. Lorenzo Allchurch looks to have a great future, his Djata a confused but pugnacious centre which the other pieces move around, while it's always a pleasure to see Jonathan Pryce, this time as Peter's father.
There are some nice touches that reflect the dull, brutal realities of life under a dictatorship - the bullying schoolteacher, the regimented crowds, the megalomania of minor officials. And the final few scenes have a wonderful cinematic quality to them. But overall this feels like a missed opportunity, a product that's rather less than the sum of it's parts..
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