Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s debut “Mustang” was a quiet marvel. The 2015 Foreign Language Oscar nominee showed the coming of age of five sisters, balancing moments of joy and wonder with stifling social forces and spirit-crushing confinement. Now, Ergüven returns with “Kings,” another film that seeks to unite a personal family story with larger forces of political and social upheaval. Here’s the synopsis from TIFF where it premiered last fall:
Bracing, bold, and ferociously inventive, writer-director Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s follow-up to her Academy Award–nominated feature debut Mustang stars Oscar winner Halle Berry and Daniel Craig as citizens of the same South Central neighbourhood. As Los Angeles races to the verge of the 1992 uprising, their lives are set on a collision course.
Millie (Berry) is a hardworking single mom with a soft spot for strays. When Kings begins, she already has eight children living in her house and will soon bring home another. Her neighbour Obie (Craig) is the local loose cannon, and the only white man in an area largely inhabited by African Americans, Latinos, and Koreans. With racial tensions running dangerously high, Millie and Obie would appear to be unlikely allies. Yet following the acquittal of four of the officers accused of beating Rodney King, these two must navigate the gathering chaos in the city to bring Millie’s kids home safely.
Also written by Ergüven, “Kings” stars Halle Berry and Daniel Craig. “Mustang” succeeded in part because of its double-edged intimacy; it will be interesting to see how Ergüven fares working on a more expansive subject on a much bigger scale with James Bond caliber movie stars. In addition, the track record of foreign directors making films about distinctly American events (and vice versa) is decidedly mixed. Some directors have displayed a beneficial outsider’s perspective, while others have shown a clumsy naiveté. Hopefully “Kings” comes closer to the former than the latter.
Audiences will be able to decide for themselves when The Orchard releases the film on April 27th.