Floating Leaf

I took today off due to plumbing issues (again); thankfully, the plumber arrived as expected and fixed the problem pretty quickly (it wasn't anything serious, just annoying). Which allowed me to finally scrub down the slimy bathtub (clean bathtub! yay! ;) - and the entire apartment, while I was at it. I feel much better now.:)

And since I didn't have to get up at 7 a.m. this morning, I had the luxury of being able to watch my latest Netflix movie as soon as it arrived - last night, that is. And as soon as I watched it, I knew I had to do a review. If ANY film I have ever seen deserves a review, this one does. It's a complete masterpiece. It's one of those movies that smack you right in the face and leave you gasping. A gripping drama, as critics would say. Also extremely educational on the topic of child trafficking in Eastern Europe. Well... that's enough by way of introduction (or warning, if you please). For more info, proceed under the cut.:)


English Title: King of Thieves
Original Title: Kral Zlodeju (Slovakian), Konig der Diebe (German)
Year: 2004
Country: Slovakia/Germany/Ukraine, possibly other countries too (the director is Slovakian, most of the story happens in Berlin, the cast includes actors from all over Europe etc.)
Genre: drama
Director: Ivan Fila
Screenplay: Ivan Fila
Actors: Lazar Ristovski (Caruso), Yasha Kultiasov (Barbu), Katharina Thalbach (Julie), Julia Khanverdieva (Mimma), Oktay Ozdemir (Marcel)
Rating (1-7): 7

What's it about: A 10-year-old boy from a shabby Ukrainian village and his 13-year-old sister get sold by their parents to a shady type from Germany who claims to run a circus. The boy, Barbu, has some juggling skills and dreams of becoming a circus performer; the girl, Mimma, is a contortionist. They love to perform together to the amusement and enthusiasm of their fellow villagers. The guy who buys them - referring to himself as Caruso - is indeed a retired circus acrobat and knife-thrower; what they don't know, however, is that he currently makes his living in Berlin by terrorizing a bunch of stray kids and training them to steal. At night he locks them up in a shack next to his defunct circus arena; during the day his cronies drive the kids out to a shopping mall to snatch the handbags of affluent-looking ladies. Each kid has a daily quota of stolen cash to meet; otherwise he/she gets a beating. So the boy, Barbu, joins the gang; while his sister Mimma is sold to another lowlife, who locks her up in a whorehouse. Barbu doesn't know about this for a while; he is told that Mimma returned home to their parents. In the meantime, he makes friends with an older boy, Marcel from Albania, who 'shows him the ropes' of the thieving business. Finally, he finds out about his sister's fate, and sets out on a mission to free her from captivity.

Music: The initial sequences of the kids performing their juggling/contortionist act are set to the accompaniment of Elvis Presley's Tutti Frutti, which seems totally incongruous against the backdrop of the Ukrainian village... and yet, somehow perfect. Then, towards the end of the film, we hear some profound Italian operatic arias... which I am unable to identify, not being an opera fan.:)

Best: The kids. Sometimes children are the most unbelievable actors. Yasha Kultiasov, who plays Barbu, is just so vibrant. There is this insatiable curiosity and indestructible optimism about him, and a vicious will to survive - even when his entire world falls apart. It is also absolutely chiling to watch Caruso manipulate him, use his childish enthusiasm and innocence to further his own evil agenda. It makes you realize that one of the most heinous crimes an adult can commit is to deliberately abuse and destroy the trust of a child. That it is, indeed, unforgivable.

Worst: Can't think of anything. Maybe the ending, which seems slightly implausible - but only if I really want to find something to criticize.;)

A Memorable Line: I can't think of a single 'signature' line to choose, but it was fascinating to watch the Ukrainian boy pick up German by mindlessly repeating what is being said around him. Obviously, the words & phrases he learns first are not the ones you would expect a kid to learn if he were studying German at school.:/

A Memorable Role: Julie, played by Katharina Thalbach. She is Caruso's lover (wife?) and also an ex-acrobat, who fell during a trapeze act and apparently broke a leg, since she walks on crutches. She is also a drug addict, trapped in a miserable life of dependence on a man she used to love once, before he shed the last vestiges of his humanity. At first she seems just as desensitized to the children's suffering as Caruso himself - but then the boy, Barbu, wakes something inside her that makes her snap. And the transformation is amazing to watch. Totally Oscar-deserving performance, imo.

Notes: Movies like this one always make me realize how incredibly lucky I was as a kid. I may not exactly perceive my childood as a particularly happy one... but when seen against the grim 'big picture', it does appear very fortunate indeed. I mean, no matter what issues my parents had with each other, I knew I was loved. I always had a roof over my head. I was never hungry. I was never abused. And no matter how poor we might get, I know they would never sell me. It might seem like all that should go without saying for any child - but, for too many, it doesn't. Btw, even though the particular storyline in the film is fictional, it was based 'on a number of true stories' the director heard from kids during his research. So the typical consolation of "it didn't really happen" doesn't apply in this case. It did happen. Many times. Still does, even as I whinge and complain about not having enough money to buy stylish clothes or dine at expensive restaurants. Food for thought, in any case.

Will I see it again? I don't know. It's rather difficult to watch... and some scenes will stay in my mind forever, whether I see them again or not. But I still might.:)