Movie Review: The Fragile King
One-liner: Strong performances, emotive storytelling and poetic visuals embolden this heartfelt and wistful coming-of-age drama.
The Fragile King is a coming-of-age drama from writer-director Tristan Holmes. The film hinges on Michael, a 15-year-old boy, who is entrusted to his estranged grandfather after his mother is killed in a car crash. Struggling to make sense of their new reality, the duo embark on a road trip in order to find his biological father.
The film’s title sounds like a poem and to its credit, Holmes delivers a melancholic ode to growing pains and parenthood. There’s an uncommon maturity to the drama, which operates on another level – taking its time to compose an artful and moody film. The script has layers, there’s a unified vision and this confidence and nuance seeps into every film department.
Surprisingly, this is a feature film debut for Holmes, a filmmaker who has assembled a fine cast. The actors rise to the occasion, clearly invested in their complex characters and eager to do an excellent job with a refined screenplay. Alex de la Rey is a remarkable find, making his film debut and holding his own opposite industry veterans. Adopting a moody disposition and playing a shy teenager, he wears it well with an intuitive performance.
The calibre of the ensemble is one of The Fragile King‘s biggest assets, each able to deliver on a script that asks its actors to reach. A stellar collective of tried-and-tested talents, it features: Andrew Buckland, Antoinette Louw, Jennifer Steyn, Nthathi Moshesh, Jonathan Pienaar, Morne Visser and Deon Lotz. Each are attuned to the The Fragile King‘s tone and are given the freedom to truly own their nuanced performances.
Andrew Buckland commands one of his finest turns yet, conjuring up powerful emotions to get the road movie underway. A soulful presence, he makes a wonderful counterpart to Alex de la Rey as the two share the see-sawing balance of screentime as co-leads. Then, in one of her all-time best performances is Antoinette Louw who absolutely owns the screen as hard luck mom, Rachel. It’s just a pity her world class SAFTA-winning supporting performance didn’t have more time for her to shine in the urban muck and mire.
Jennifer Steyn is another gem, who manages to do so much with so little in her award-winning supporting role. Jonathan Pienaar is an unsung hero of the local film industry and leans into a short-lived but provocative role. Then, it’s Nthathi Moshesh, Morne Visser and Deon Lotz round off the team effort – echoing and enhancing the actor’s showcase. While all gifted in their own rite, one wonders just how Holmes managed to coax out the best from his performers.
The film’s melancholic and wistful tone is carried forth by the visuals with Lance Gewer at the helm and Bekker-Brand Janse van Rensburg in support. Taking its time to infuse the poetry of the drama, the artful and cinematic feel is most welcome even if the pacing is slower. Swathed in these moody visuals and compelled by solid performances, the visual storytelling is in full effect with the dialogue there to embroider.
“Yeah, and what’s it to you?
While The Fragile King is downbeat, it captures a slice-of-life in its pensive drama – giving a subtle spin of humour to proceedings. Having Andrew Buckland upfront underscores this bittersweet sentiment, offering a Robin Williams dynamic to a movie with parallels to arthouse road movies like Around the Bend and The Fisher King. More of a heartfelt drama than an overt comedy, there are glimmers of humanity amid the modern decay and Holmes finds a good balance to this coming-of-age tale.
The road trip element keeps things ambling along as the clutter of the city leads to wide open spaces. Developing the grandson-grandfather pairing makes for a high contrast in an age where these kinds of family relationships are more disconnected than ever and hard to come by. Through their spirited co-lead performances, Buckland and de la Rey thrive in the front seats of this dramedy vehicle and help guide it home.
Taking its time to craft a thoughtful and well-acted film with a unified vision, Tristan Holmes has unearthed a fine feature film debut. Landing some big categories at the South African Film and Television Awards is testament to The Fragile King‘s raw power. An actor’s showcase, a poetic treatment and a nuanced script leverage fine ingredients. While a little patchy and slow-moving at times, The Fragile King is still a cut above.
The bottom line: Poignant
