Review of Colonia (2016) by Howard E — 04 Dec 2016
COLONIA is a film that has its roots in history. Set in the early 1970s, Emma Watson (the HARRY POTTER series; NOAH) stars as Lena, a German flight attendant for Lufthansa, who gets caught up in a web of political intrigue in Chile after her German activist boyfriend, Daniel (Daniel Brühl, GOOD BYE LENIN!), gets arrested by DINA, president Augusto Pinochet's secret police. Lena learns that Daniel was taken to a secretive place called "Colonia Dignidad" (Dignity Colony), which was founded by German émigrés in the 1950s and run like a cult by the enigmatic Paul Schäfer (played by Michael Nyqvist, JOHN WICK) since his arrival there in 1961. To rescue Daniel, Lena decides to join the colony but she quickly learns that while getting in is relatively easy, getting out is impossible.
Like her HARRY POTTER co-star, Daniel Radcliffe, Watson isn't shy about taking on meaty acting roles. Unfortunately, this film was not the right one for her. The biggest problem I had with this film was that the actors all spoke English, rather than Spanish and/or German. That was clearly done to accommodate Watson and to get the project greenlit. For the first ten minutes, I thought Lena was British rather than German.
That aside, the story is never boring. It also sheds light on a piece of history that few know about.
This review of Colonia (2016) was written by Howard E on 04 Dec 2016.
Colonia has generally received positive reviews.
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