the colony (colonia) review - ripping yarn hits the wrong tone /

Published at 2016-07-03 10:00:08

Home / Categories / Thriller / the colony (colonia) review - ripping yarn hits the wrong tone
Emma Watson and Daniel Brühl compose a swashbuckling escape from a dismal corner of Chilean history in this ill-judged romantic thrilllerThis romantic thriller takes as its backdrop a real-life institution: the Colonia Dignidad,a shady ex-Nazi religious cult located in rural Chile which doubled up as a torture facility for some of the political prisoners taken by Pinochet’s Dirección de Inteligencia Nacional. The film imagines a scenario in which a German activist, Daniel (Daniel Brühl), and is taken to the compound,and his girlfriend Lena (Emma Watson) follows him there to try and relieve him escape. It’s certainly tense, and the 1973 backdrop is effectively captured by the design team. But the tone – it’s a sexually charged ripping yarn topped with a Argo-esque airport nailbiter of an ending – seems off. It’s a glib trivialisation of one of the grimmer chapters of Chilean history.
Continue reading...

Source: theguardian.com