User Reviews

2007 , Manuel Lopez is a Spanish politician whose wealthy life is based on corrupt issues, then he threatens to communicate it to the media , after a newspaper exposes him to the public eye . Manuel begins a race against clock attempting to blame his previous Party colleagues. Manuel will stop at nothing to get his purports , even assaulting , robbing , driving in hlgh speed that causes him a car accident. Finally, the corrupt Manuel has an exciting battle of wits with a TV presenter, Barbara Lennie.

Nice film though excessively moving by means of a camera over shoulder. It relies heavily on a long use of steadycam , overtalking, and abusive utilization of interior scenarios. The main plot deals with a corrupt politician and his dark business, that's why he is detained , paroled by a strong sum of money , he then seeks , finds and threatens to uncover evidences about existence of an unofficial accounting system inside the conservative Party and its extreme corruption . Antonio De la Torre gives a very good acting as the nefarious , corrupt , crooked politician getting money by any illegal way . Antonio De La Torre is a pretty good actor who always provides fine interpretation, but he uses to play similar characters and his performances bear remarkable resemblance. Support cast is frankly well, plenty of familiar faces of Spanish cinema as Jose María Pou, Nacho Fresneda , Mónica Lopez , Ana Wagener, Óscar de Fuente , and special mention for Barbara Lennie who at the end has a thrilling talking duel with Antonio De La Torre.

The motion picture was well directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen .Rodrigo has directed successful TV series as Pecera de Eva , Fragiles , Vida Loca , Impares . And he has made notorious , important pictures as 8 Citas , May God Save us , and this El Reino with his fetish actor Antonio De La Torre .Furthermore , a short , Oscar nominated titled Madre , that subsequently Rodrigo became into a long running film : Madre 2019. All of them have won various Prizes and Goya Awards . Rating 6.5/10 .The flick will appeal to Antonio De la Torre enthusiasts. Better than average. Well Worth watching.

'El reino' is the original title of Spanish director Rodrigo Sorogoyen's film, which dominated the Goya Awards ceremony for films made in 2018. The title translates as 'The Kingdom' and I believe that its meaning is important, although it was translated differently (and incorrectly ) in the English-speaking market. We are dealing in this film with the collapse of a kingdom and the disintegration of its moral and legal order. The kingdom is the life and world of Manuel López-Vidal, a corrupt politician from one of Spain's provinces. 'El reino' is a well-written and interestingly made political thriller, but which seems to lack the ambition to be more than that.

Manuel, the main hero of 'El reino' is a local politicians who seems to have reached success. In public life, he is a municipal councilor and the approvals of important projects financed by European funds depend on him. In his private life he is surrounded by a loving family and friends who seem to belong to the same class, leading a life of luxury: yachts, villa decorated with modern art, elegant restaurants. The whole system seems to belong to him or work in his favor: the municipal officials, the press, the lawyers, the other politicians, they all seem to be beholden to each other. However, when an investigation related to the use of European funds is launched, it is enough for a single crack to appear in this apparently stone-solid edifice (a witness, a recording) for the entire scaffolding to begin to fall apart. Manuel will be abandoned by one after another of his party colleagues, his business associates whom he considered friends turn their backs and do not answer calls, and will also have to send his family abroad to shelter them from the scandal. His 'kingdom' collapses within days. Manuel is a fighter, however, and will not hesitate to use any means - relations with television, collaboration with investigators, burglaries to steal documents, blackmailing party bosses - to save something from the fall.

I already saw at work together film director Rodrigo Sorogoyen and actor Antonio de la Torre in their previous film 'Que dios nos perdone', an excellent psychological thriller inspired by the life and work of two police investigators. 'El reino' is also a thriller inspired by life in Spain today, but the focus here is on the political aspects. From a cinematographic point of view, the film is very well made. Alejandro de Pablo's cinematography, often with the camera on his shoulders behind the hero, walks us through the corridors of political power and of the investigative services buildings, or accompanies Manuel López-Vidal on luxury yachts or in his forays into darker places. Olivier Arson's music makes generous use of electronic effects to emphasize moments of tension. Antonio de la Torre is an excellent actor and well for this kind of role. And yet I left the viewing with the feeling that this political thriller could have offered more. Perhaps the problem is the main character who never breaks out of the pattern of a corrupt political scumbag, who when in trouble is capable of anything to save his own skin. Unlike the director's previous film, the psychological depth and the surprises are missing. I was waiting for some twist that would show us a more human side of the character, remorse, acceptance of responsibility. It's not happening. Maybe this is how people in this category are in reality. And sometimes in movies too, or at least in this movie.

This is the third feature film by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, where we see little by little his evolution as one of the Spanish directors of the moment. This film takes enough of the previous one, May god forgive us, of which he maintains that constant tension. In turn, this visual style resembles Seven by David Fincher.

The political content makes a fictitious reference to the Spanish political situation. In particular, the corruption of the PP and the consequences of its discovery. The style is that of a hyper-nervous thriller with characters always on the edge of disaster. All this, after having become rich with all kinds of illegal methods. The evolution of the film is that of a flight in total descent, seeing the effects of the acts performed by each protagonist.

Everything that the film represents is summarized with the last sequence, a face to face between the protagonist, Alberto de la Torre, the corrupt politician and the television journalist who plays Barbara Lennie.