Directed by:
Florian GallenbergerCinematography:
Kolja BrandtCast:
Emma Watson, Daniel Brühl, Michael Nyqvist, Richenda Carey, Vicky Krieps, Jeanne Werner, Julian Ovenden, Martin Wuttke, August Zirner, Nicolás Barsoff (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Set amidst the Chilean coup of 1973, The Colony begins by depicting the masses who are out on the street, protesting against General Pinochet. Amongst them are Daniel (Daniel Brühl – Rush, Captain America: Civil War) and Lena (Emma Watson – Harry Potter, The Bling Ring), a young couple who, like many others, get arrested by Pinochet's secret police for producing propaganda against the regime. Following his arrest, Daniel finds himself trapped in a secret interrogation camp located beneath the infamous Colonia Dignidad; a German sect under the leadership of the notorious, charismatic and unflinching Paul Schäfer (Michael Nyqvist – The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, John Wick). Presenting itself as a charitable mission, the Colonia is in fact a place of brutality and terror that nobody has ever escaped from. Desperate to rescue her boyfriend, Lena infiltrates the cult and witnesses the true darkness of Schäfer's regime before she attempts a dramatic escape that puts both their lives on the line. (Signature Entertainment)
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Reviews (10)
In collective scenes sufficiently predatory and absorbing, in moments of terror it forces you to avert your gaze. As a whole, in its message of freedom of spirit, mind, and humanity, it does not fail; in the possibility that something like this is real even in modern history, it is fatally depressing. When looking at the flawless Emma Watson and the captivating Daniel Brühl, I am willing to forgive a few minor stumbles because the content outweighs the importance of the screenplay form this time.
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It isn’t always necessary, but in the case of this movie, I strongly recommend reading the entire summary and taking in every word of it first, so that you know what you are getting into. It will help a lot with the movie itself, which just puts the viewer into the middle of the action, and they don’t have time to find their feet. It puts you into the middle of the action so uncompromisingly that the only thing you can focus on is Daniel Brühl and Emma Watson. Well, and they showed how important members of European cinema they are, because I was completely blown away by their characters. But the whole movie isn’t only about their characters, it is mainly about the whole story, which you probably wouldn’t believe actually happened in the 1970s in Chile. But, as they say, anything is possible on our planet and so I watched with horror the lawlessness our world had to witness. What is funny is the fact that even though the world knew about it, nobody really fought against it. Again, the rule saying anything that happens in a particular state stays in the particular state applies. After a long time a very high-quality European movie that stretches out of the borders of Europe with its story and also actors. Even Michael Nyqvist had fun with his character… You still don’t find it strange that the Germans are behind a story like this, again?
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A co-production Requiem for a Maiden without Renč's exploitative lack of feeling and above all without the lesbian scene with Holubová, from start to finish it's an incredibly mind-numbing and routine inspired-by-true-story Pinochet-era romance with no handwriting whatsoever. Emma Watson plays a lunatic well.
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You read the synopsis and you know exactly what the film is going to be about. That's a real shame because it becomes boring, actually predictable. Certainly, some scenes still intrigue you, not because of their literalness, but precisely because you have to speculate, but towards the end, the film turns into quite cheap action, which is a shame given the cast.
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Using cheap clichés from Hollywood genre movies, Colonia is silly in places, but at the same time, it has a solid romantic storyline and, in contrast to that storyline, can also be fascinatingly bizarre (the microworld of the colony, its characters and internal laws). Viewers are frightened by the cruelty of domination and the helplessness of the victims, and the tension’s so great that they are kept on their toes the entire time. Michael Nyqvist’s bad guy is truly abominable.
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