Florence Hoath was such a terrific young actress, it's a shame she quit the profession so early. Even in a screenplay as muddled and unfocused as this, her talent stands out by a mile. She easily holding her own against the likes of veterans such as Hugh Laurie and Joan Plowright, and there aren't many child stars you can say that of.
It's just such a shame the rest of the film doesn't match the same standard, being a rather staid parable about the dangers of radical socialism behind the Iron Curtain in the middle of last century. There are a lot of surreal scenes that make no sense, some bizarre choices in camera angles and a few miscellaneous characters that border on caricature.
It reminds one of a particularly long history lesson at school. Informative yes, but not something you'd usually like to spend your leisure time on. Not in my case, anyway. 5/10
It's just such a shame the rest of the film doesn't match the same standard, being a rather staid parable about the dangers of radical socialism behind the Iron Curtain in the middle of last century. There are a lot of surreal scenes that make no sense, some bizarre choices in camera angles and a few miscellaneous characters that border on caricature.
It reminds one of a particularly long history lesson at school. Informative yes, but not something you'd usually like to spend your leisure time on. Not in my case, anyway. 5/10
