title : Top Movies - Colonia Movie Review (Spoiler Free) - Movie Reviews Sites
Link : Top Movies - Colonia Movie Review (Spoiler Free) - Movie Reviews Sites
Top Movies - Colonia Movie Review (Spoiler Free) - Movie Reviews Sites
article2016 Reviews,Colonia is a good-looking thriller, with terrific performances but suffers from a mediocre script and some uneven pacing.
Genre: Drama/Romance/ThrillerDirector: Florian Gallenberger
Cast: Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl, Michael Nyqvist, Vicky Krieps,
Richenda Carey, Jeanne Werner & Julian Ovenden.
Richenda Carey, Jeanne Werner & Julian Ovenden.
Run Time: 110 min.
US Release: 15 April 2016
UK Release: Unknown
German Release: 18 February 2016
Colonia, also known as Colonia Dignidad, is a 2016 German period piece drama and director Florian Gallenberger’s English-language debut. It depicts the events that took place in the 1973 Chilean military coup and the notorious cult in the south of Chile, led by the German lay preacher Paul Schäfer. I did not know what to expect when walking into the screening room, because it obtained a lot of negative reviews but was liked a lot by the public audience, so I was curious to see how I would perceive the film especially since I am interested in seeing Emma Watson grow as an actress.
The plot of the movie takes place in Chile of 1973. Lena (Watson), a stewardess working for Lufthansa, travels to Santiago de Chile to visit her Boyfriend Daniel (Daniel Brühl), a photographer and artist working closely together with supporters of President Salvador Allende. When Pinochet overthrows the Government and assumes power, Daniel gets identified as one of the Allende’s supporters and is captured and transported to a remote colony in the South of Chile, called Colonia Dignidad. Lena searches for Daniel, figuring out that Colonia Dignidad is a sect run by the sadistic Paul Schäfer, who cooperates with Pinochet. She decides to infiltrate the cult, search for Daniel and free him.
Colonia starts of as a typical romance, set just before the military coup d’état in Chile. Lena surprises her boyfriend, who is living in Chile since months, with a visit and the two spend two intimate days together, smooching and making love. To say the truth, the first 20 minutes couldn’t be a more clichéd depiction of romance on film but once Pinochet’s men start rallying up supporters of Allende, the movie makes a complete change in tone. Gone are the pink love-goggles and a much darker atmosphere spreads throughout this romantic-thriller.
Colonia does tell a compelling story and makes very good use of tension building, in fact I was on the edge of my seat during most of the film’s runtime but in the end and after giving it a long enough thought, I found it to be a very mainstream and unexceptional dramatic-thriller. Gallenberger managed to capture and recreate the looks and feel of this explosive historic event really well, at least on the surface, but the movies biggest issue is that it doesn’t delve deep enough into the history of the cult. Instead, Lena and Daniel’s romance overshadows the sect’s story and incidents inside Colonia Dignidad are simply brushes by, with the use of short scenes.
This period piece also suffers from extreme and heavy pacing issues, appearing first after the first 30-40 minutes into its runtime. It does start with a good and steady pace, until Colonia Dignidad is brought up. From there on it is all over the place, with some scenes being summarised extremely fast and others being stretched out to its maximum.
Emma Watson gave one of her better performances in this movie. It was different to other roles I saw her in and she did a great job at expressing the disgust and contempt for cult leader Paul Schäfer. In some form the viewer is able to relate with Watson’s character Lena, who doesn’t stop at anything to find the man she loves. Sadly, the poorly written background of Lena sets the moments of connection between audience and character aback. We know nothing of her past; how did she meet Daniel and what are her motivations?
Daniel Brühl’s persona was equally as underdeveloped as Watson’s Lena. Daniel is a photographer who spent the last four months in Chile, helping the supporter of Allende but we don’t know why. All we get from Brühl’s performance is that his character is a liberal socialist, ready to blow the whistle on any political wrongdoings.
Michael Nyqvist played Paul Schäfer and gave a great but pale rendition of this psychotic and sadistic man. Nyqvist’s presence comes off as deranged and dangerous every time he steps on screen; sending shivers down my back. But we obtained yet again an underdeveloped character, whose enthusiasm and motives were not explained to the viewer and thus the character comes off as cartoonish and over-the-top.
Director of photography Kolja Brandt produced a slick looking movie that is made very professional. The camera movements are mostly smooth and well executed, with only one segment of shaky cam used for a POV from a prisoner who is getting tortured. My only complaint is about the use of extreme close-ups in this film, employed during intimate moments between the two lovers or the interrogation scenes between Schäfer and Lena.
Effects wise, Colonia made use of good practical effects and realistically looking sceneries. The costume design was well elaborated and depicted the period it plays in.
Verdict: I did enjoy Florian Gallenberger’s Colonia but it is a movie that does suffer from severe flaws. The characters are mostly underdeveloped and the team missed the opportunity to film an in depth motion picture of Schäfer’s sect and his ties with Pinochet's regime. Instead we obtained a dramatic-thriller, with well-developed suspenseful moments but a lukewarm romance. Halfway through the movie the pacing derails and the ending, as satisfactory as it might be, is a standard happy ending after a short and nerve wracking chase through the Chilean airport, that was heavily reminiscent of Affleck’s Argo. I will give Colonia a 7 out of 10.
If you walk in, not expecting a revolutionary movie that focuses solely on the machinations and motivations of the sect and its leader Paul Schäfer, you will have a good time and enjoy the film. If you want to learn more about the cult you will be severely disappointed by Colonia.
Thank you very much for reading my review and if you found it helpful, please make sure to share it.
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