''The Childhood of a Leader'' is a 2015

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Period (punctuation) * Era, a length or span of time *Menstruation, commonly referred to as a "period" Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (o ...

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

psychological drama Psychological drama, or psychodrama, is a Genre, subgenre of Drama (film and television), drama and psychological fiction literatures that generally focuses upon the emotional, mental, and psychological development of the protagonists and other c ...

film co-written, co-produced and directed by

Brady Corbet Brady James Monson Corbet ( ; born August 17, 1988) is an American filmmaker and former actor. He had roles in films such as ''Thirteen (2003 film), Thirteen'' (2003), ''Mysterious Skin'' (2004), ''Funny Games (2007 film), Funny Games'' (2007), ...

in his directorial debut. It is loosely based on

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

's short story of the same name, published in 1939 in a collection entitled ''

The Wall ''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/ EMI and Columbia/ CBS Records. It is a rock opera which explores Pink, a jaded rock star, as he constructs a psychologic ...

''. Corbet co-wrote the screenplay with his partner

Mona Fastvold Mona Fastvold (born 7 March 1981) is a Norwegian filmmaker and actress. She is best known for directing the drama films '' The Sleepwalker'' (2014) and ''The World to Come'' (2020) and for co-writing ''The Brutalist'' (2024). Early life Mona Fa ...

. An international co-production between the United States, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Sweden, France, Canada and Belgium, the film chronicles the childhood of a fascist leader in the period immediately following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Production began in early 2015, in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

, (Hungary). The film had its world premiere in competition in the Horizon section at the

72nd Venice International Film Festival The 72nd annual Venice Film Festival, Venice International Film Festival, was held from 2 to 12 September 2015, at Venice Lido in Italy. Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón was the jury president for the main competition. French-Italian actress ...

on 5 September 2015, and won two awards at the festival, Best Debut film and Best Director.

Plot

Overture

In 1919, Prescott, an American boy, has temporarily retreated to the French countryside with his father, an American diplomat who is there to help negotiate the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

, and his mother, who is German-born.

I. The First Tantrum, A Sign of Things to Come

After rehearsing for a church pageant, Prescott throws rocks at the other children and their parents and then runs into the woods. When he returns, he sees his father who has been drinking with family friend Charles Marker. Prescott is forced to apologize to the townspeople and though he is unrepentant, he is forgiven. Though his mother is fluent in French, Prescott has been forbidden from speaking anything but English with his mother.

II. The Second Tantrum, A New Year

As they are living in France, however, the mother is permitted to hire a tutor, Ada, to teach Prescott some French language. Prescott later sees Ada alone with his father, which his father claims was because he was paying her. Afterwards, during one of their lessons, Prescott grabs Ada's breast inappropriately. Though she is upset by the encounter, Ada does not mention it to his mother. The father, along with several trusted aides, spends some time in secret meetings at the house, no longer having faith in the negotiations. One of the aides, seeing Prescott, mistakes him for a girl, which causes him to strip off his clothes and lock himself in his room for several days. His mother intends to starve him out but he is secretly fed by Mona, the housekeeper. When the mother discovers this, she fires Mona. Mona vows to destroy the mother and her family. Prescott spends several days locked in his room learning French. Afterwards, he recites a text in front of his mother and Ada and then asks his mother to dismiss Ada so he can continue his studies alone. The father returns to find the mother with Marker. Upon seeing that Prescott is still disrobed, he promises to lash him which results in a physical altercation in which he injures the boy's arm.

III. The Third Tantrum, "''It's a dragon...''"

In celebration of the signed treaty, the family throws a dinner party for some close intimates. During the dinner, the father asks the mother to lead the group in prayer; she in turn asks Prescott to do so. Instead, he announces that he doesn't believe in prayer anymore. When the mother tries to take him to his room, he strikes her several times in the temple with a rock, badly injuring her and causing her to lose consciousness. When the father attempts to apprehend him, Prescott runs off the stairs. While running, he trips and paralyzes himself. He is approached by Marker and his associates, who reassures him that he is alright.

+. A New Era or Prescott, the Bastard

Many years later, Prescott, is now the military leader of an

authoritarian Authoritarianism is a political system characterized by the rejection of political plurality, the use of strong central power to preserve the political ''status quo'', and reductions in democracy, separation of powers, civil liberties, and ...

state. Crowds of adoring fans greet him. He has grown to look like Marker, his biological father.

Cast

Bérénice Bejo Bérénice Bejo (; born 7 July 1976) is a French-Argentine actress best known for playing Christiana in '' A Knight's Tale'' (2001) and Peppy Miller in '' The Artist'' (2011). Her work in the latter earned her a nomination for the Academy Award ...

as The Mother *

Liam Cunningham Liam Cunningham (born 2 June 1961) is an Irish actor. He is known for playing Davos Seaworth in the HBO epic-fantasy series ''Game of Thrones''. Cunningham has been nominated for the London Film Critics' Circle Award, the British Independent ...

as The Father *

Stacy Martin Stacy Martin (born 20 March 1990) is a French actress. Her breakthrough role was playing Joe as a young woman in Lars von Trier's 2013 drama film '' Nymphomaniac''. She is a frequent collaborator with Brady Corbet, having appeared in his films ...

as Ada *

Robert Pattinson Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor. #Filmography, His filmography often sees him portraying eccentric characters across a diverse range of genres. Known for starring in both major studio productions and in ...

as Charles Marker / adult Prescott *Tom Sweet as Prescott, The Bastard *

Yolande Moreau Yolande Moreau (born 27 February 1953) is a Belgian comedian, actress, film director and screenwriter. She has won three César Awards from four nominations. Career She made her cinematic debut with director Agnès Varda in two movies: Sept pi� ...

as Mona * Jacques Boudet as The Priest *

Michel Subor Michel Subor (, born Mischa Subotzki; 2 February 1935 – 17 January 2022) was a French actor who gained initial fame with the starring role in Jean-Luc Godard's second feature, '' Le petit soldat'' (1960), but the French government banned it un ...

*Sophie Curtis *Patrick McCullough *Michael Epp as Mr. Advisor *Roderick Hill as Older American Gentleman

Production

Development

began writing the script of the film ten years before on his own but later put it down as he considered it "too big" for a debut film. He later picked it up again after support from his partner

. On 1 April 2013, it was announced that Corbet was set to make his feature film directorial debut with a France-set World War I film, based on the script he co-wrote with Mona Fastvold. Corbet would produce along with French producers Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre and Chris Coen, as well as Istvan Major. Film Producer Helena Danielsson of Hepp Film also came on board to get the film additional financing. In 2015, Corbet said that the script of the film was inspired by

Robert Bresson Robert Bresson (; 25 September 1901 – 18 December 1999) was a French film director. Known for his ascetic approach, Bresson made a notable contribution to the art of cinema; his non-professional actors, Ellipsis (narrative device), ellipses, an ...

's '' Mouchette'',

Maurice Pialat Maurice Pialat (; 31 August 1925 – 11 January 2003) was a French film director, screenwriter and actor known for the rigorous and unsentimental style of his films. His work is often described as " realist",

's '' Under the Sun of Satan'',

Ermanno Olmi Ermanno Olmi (24 July 1931 – 7 May 2018)Lane, John Francis (May 7, 2018).Ermanno Olmi obituary. ''The Guardian''. theguardian.com. Retrieved 11 May 2018. was an Italian film director and screenwriter best known for directing '' Il Posto'' ( ...

's ''

The Tree of Wooden Clogs ''The Tree of Wooden Clogs'' () is a 1978 Italian film written and directed by Ermanno Olmi. The film depicts the life of Lombard peasants in a ''cascina'' (farmhouse) during the late 19th century. It shares similarities with the earlier Itali ...

'',

Carl Theodor Dreyer Carl Theodor Dreyer (; 3 February 1889 – 20 March 1968), commonly known as Carl Th. Dreyer, was a Danish film director and screenwriter. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers in history, his movies are noted for emotional austerity ...

's '' Day of Wrath'' and

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

's ''

Barry Lyndon ''Barry Lyndon'' is a 1975 epic historical drama film written, directed, and produced by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1844 novel '' The Luck of Barry Lyndon'' by William Makepeace Thackeray. Narrated by Michael Hordern, and starring Ryan O'N ...

''.

Casting

On 10 December 2013, it was announced that

Juliette Binoche Juliette Binoche (; born 9 March 1964) is a French actress. She has appeared in more than 60 films, particularly in French and English, and has been the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Juliette Binoche, numerous accolades, ...

Tim Roth Timothy Simon Roth (; born 14 May 1961) is an English actor. He was among a group of prominent British actors known as the " Brit Pack". After garnering attention in television productions '' Made in Britain'' (1982) and '' Meantime'' (1983), ...

and

had joined the cast of the film. In August 2014, it was announced that both Binoche and Roth had left the project. Roth dropped due to scheduling conflict while Binoche cited the reason that it was "too dark". The same month Binoche and Roth were replaced by

and

. Corbet talking about the casting and characters in the film said that

I have intentionally not revealed the identity of (the boy who will become leader) character. And it's a funny thing because it's not for the reasons that people think. One thing I will happily tell everybody is that the character is not Hitler aughs And the character is not Mussolini. It's someone else. And there's the dramatic event where you learn who this person is and that's something I want to save for people. Robert Pattinson is not playing Hitler as you now know aughs I'll go on the record saying that.

Corbet held auditions for the casting of the role of Prescott, describing it as "(we) held simple auditions (one page of text) for the boys reading for the main role. Des Hamilton and his great team found Tom Sweet and brought him in. Tom was everything we had envisioned and more. He is the film’s greatest triumph."

Pre-production

Production was originally slated to start from November 2014 but later moved to January 2015. Pattinson describing the film said that "It's about the youth of a future dictator in the Thirties, like an amalgamation of Hitler, Mussolini and some others." Bejo talking about her character in the film said that "(I'm playing) the character of a mother whose son is very particular, a little awkward and weird. Over the scenes you're realizing that it is not a normal guy, he'll become a monster or something. And it is about the relationship with the mother and father."

Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began from 30 January 2015 in

and continued till 1 March 2015. On 3 February 2015, filming took place at

Buda Castle Buda Castle (, ), formerly also called the Royal Palace () and the Royal Castle (, ), is the historical castle and palace complex of the King of Hungary, Hungarian kings in Budapest. First completed in 1265, the Baroque architecture, Baroque pa ...

and

Hungarian National Gallery The Hungarian National Gallery (also known as Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, ), was established in 1957 as the national art museum. It is located in Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary. Its collections cover Hungarian art in all genres, including the w ...

Music

Singer-songwriter, composer and record producer Scott Walker composed the score of the film. The soundtrack album was released by

4AD 4AD is a British record label owned by Beggars Group. It was founded in London under the name Axis Records by Ivo Watts-Russell and Peter Kent in 1980 as an imprint of Beggars Banquet Records. The name was changed to 4AD after the release of th ...

on 19 August 2016. The film served as closing film at 2016

International Film Festival Rotterdam International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) is an annual film festival held at the end of January in various locations in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, focused on independent and experimental films. The inaugural festival took place in June 1972, ...

, where the score of the film was performed live during the screening of the film.

Promotion and marketing

On 13 February 2015, Producer Chris Coen released the first image featuring Robert Pattinson, Bérénice Bejo and Liam Cunningham in their costumes. Another still featuring Pattinson, Bejo and Cunningham was released on 8 April 2015. Exclusive footage from the film screened at

Marché du Film The ''Marché du Film'' (), also called Cannes Film Market, is an annual marketplace for films and one of the world's largest film markets. Established in 1959, it is held annually in conjunction with the Cannes Film Festival. In the 2020s, mor ...

2015 Cannes Film Festival The 68th Cannes Film Festival took place from 13 to 24 May 2015. Coen brothers, Ethan and Joel Coen were the Co-Presidents of the Jury for the main competition, marking the first time that two people co-chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers ...

. Two clips from the film were released on 4 September 2015. On 25 October 2015, it was screened at

Jacob Burns Film Center The Jacob Burns Film Center (JBFC) is a nonprofit cultural arts center located in Pleasantville, New York. It occupies the old Rome Theater, a Spanish mission-style theater built in 1925. Along with independent and documentary films, the cente ...

Release

The film released in the US on 22 July 2016, in theatres and on VOD simultaneously by

IFC Films Independent Film Company (formerly IFC Films) is an American film production and distribution company based in New York City, New York. It is an offshoot of IFC (U.S. TV channel), IFC, owned by AMC Networks. It mainly distributes independent fil ...

. Originally it was to be released by ''Metrodome Distribution'' in UK but few days before its release the company filed for bankruptcy, after which Soda Pictures released it in UK on 19 August 2016.

Reception

The film received positive reviews from critics, with emphasis on Corbet's screenplay and direction, the performances of the cast, Scott Walker's music and

Lol Crawley Laurie "Lol" Crawley, B.S.C. (born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire) is an English cinematographer. He is known for his collaborations with director Brady Corbet on such films as '' The Childhood of a Leader'' (2015), ''Vox Lux'' (2018), and ''The Bru ...

's cinematography. Review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

reports that 90% of 66 critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 7.40/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "''The Childhood of a Leader'' mirrors the rise of fascism in post-WWI Europe with a well-acted, confidently crafted look at one young man's unsettling coming of age."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

gives the film a score of 68 based on reviews from 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". David Ehrlich in his review for '' Indiewire'' said, "With his unusually accomplished directorial debut, Corbet delivers a strange and startling film that reflects the unique trajectory of his career, as well as the influence of the iconoclastic directors with whom he's already worked." Lee Marshall of ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' wrote a positive review for the film, saying, "''The Childhood of a Leader'' is as relentlessly sombre and compelling as the film’s remarkable, full-volume orchestral soundtrack" and compared it with

Michael Haneke Michael Haneke (; born 23 March 1942) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. His work often examines social issues and depicts the feelings of estrangement experienced by individuals in modern society. Haneke has made films in French, Ge ...

's work, saying, "though it shares something of Haneke's dispassionate view of human nature, ''The Childhood of a Leader'' is in no way derivative. Dominated by dread, veering into art horror at points, this compulsively dark story takes no prisoners." Tommaso Tocci of ''The Film Stage'' called it "a huge psychological and tonal balancing act that could crumble at each turn, and yet never does." Guy Lodge of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called it "a overweening ic maddening but not inconsiderable directorial debut for actor Brady Corbet, which plays as something of a straight-faced parody of a well-upholstered historical biopic." In his review for ''Eye For Film'', Damon Wise said, "It sounds like a slow-paced chamber piece, and some scenes are, but a brilliant framing device involving a stunning orchestral score by, of all people, Scott Walker gives the film a nerve-wracking urgency." John Bleasdale of ''Cine Vu'' gave it five out five stars by saying that "(it) is a dark, enigmatic piece of work that hovers between visionary greatness and petty domestic triviality. Corbet's inaugural stint behind the camera marks a stunning debut and the finest film at Venice thus far." In contrast, Deborah Young in her review for ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' said, "There is actually a lot of imagination at work in the film, though frustratingly it rarely comes together in an emotionally meaningful way."

Accolades

References

External links