THE CHILDHOOD OF A LEADER (2015) - ♦♦♦♦♦

Directed by - Brady Corbet

Written by - Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold

Starring - Robert Pattinson, Liam Cunningham, Berenice Bejo, Stacy Martin

"An exciting work of confidence, which daringly draws inspiration and openly references the cinema of such greats as SERGEI EISENSTEIN, ABEL GANCE and STANLEY KUBRICK, while even being unafraid to toy with early twentieth century history by imagining original psychological and philosophical views on human reasons that led to the rise of the politics of the post first World War period. 

THE CHILDHOOD OF A LEADER is all the more remarkable in style, concept and substance when considering that it is a directorial debut. 

Its story follows a young boy, the son of an advisor to the US president residing in France, and his growing rebelliousness towards his parents. His parents, on the other hand, are not neglectful or bad people, but represent the family standards and social etiquette of their times. 

Thus, ultimately, despite its wonderful chiaroscuro cinematography by LOL CROWLEY, and the boisterous soundtrack by SCOTT WALKER, particularly breathtaking in the film's introduction and epilogue sequences composed of archive footage, CORBET and co-writer MONA FASTVOLD also aim to represent such conventions with respectful authenticity. And in order to instensify the experience, the film depends upon a hypnotic and slow development to highlight its psychological tension, for which editor DAVID JANCSO's work must also be praised. 

Given the close-knit nature of the film, where all of its elements come together in one of the most exciting post-modernist period dramas of recent times, which for this reason will also be polarizing, THE CHILDHOOD OF A LEADER also shows how collaborative in nature the art of filmmaking really is, and how skilled CORBET really was in preventing the scale of the vision to get out of hand even by indulging in audacious scenarios."

Period Drama, UK/Hungary/France