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The Childhood of a Leader

  • 2015
  • 1h 55m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
7.2K
YOUR RATING
The Childhood of a Leader (2015)
This fable about the rise of fascism in the 20th Century tells the story of a young American boy living in France in 1918 whose father is working for the US government on the creation of the Treaty of Versailles. What he witnesses helps to mould his beliefs - and we witness the birth of a terrifying ego.
Play trailer2:00
1 Video
60 Photos
Period DramaPsychological DramaDrama

A chronicle of the childhood of a post-World War I leader.A chronicle of the childhood of a post-World War I leader.A chronicle of the childhood of a post-World War I leader.

  • Director
    • Brady Corbet
  • Writers
    • Brady Corbet
    • Mona Fastvold
    • Jean-Paul Sartre
  • Stars
    • Bérénice Bejo
    • Liam Cunningham
    • Stacy Martin
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.2/10
    7.2K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Brady Corbet
    • Writers
      • Brady Corbet
      • Mona Fastvold
      • Jean-Paul Sartre
    • Stars
      • Bérénice Bejo
      • Liam Cunningham
      • Stacy Martin
    • 48User reviews
    • 87Critic reviews
    • 68Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 6 wins & 12 nominations total

    Videos1

    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:00
    Official Trailer

    Photos59

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    Top cast20

    Edit
    Bérénice Bejo
    Bérénice Bejo
    • The Mother
    Liam Cunningham
    Liam Cunningham
    • The Father
    Stacy Martin
    Stacy Martin
    • The Teacher
    Yolande Moreau
    Yolande Moreau
    • Mona
    Jacques Boudet
    Jacques Boudet
    • The Priest
    Robert Pattinson
    Robert Pattinson
    • Charles…
    Tom Sweet
    Tom Sweet
    • Prescott, the Boy
    Sophie Lane Curtis
    Sophie Lane Curtis
    • Laura
    • (as Sophie Curtis)
    Rebecca Dayan
    Rebecca Dayan
    • Edith
    Michael Epp
    Michael Epp
    • Economist
    Kata Petõ
    • Housemaid
    Mark C. Phelan
    • Mr. Advisor
    • (as Mark Phelan)
    Jeremy Wheeler
    Jeremy Wheeler
    • Mr. Deputy
    Andrew Osterreicher
    • Mr. Secretary
    Scott Alexander Young
    Scott Alexander Young
    • Counselor
    • (as Scott A Young)
    Luca Bercovici
    Luca Bercovici
    • Older Foreign Gentleman
    Caroline Boulton
    Caroline Boulton
    • Mr. Advisor's Secretary
    Roderick Hill
    Roderick Hill
    • Older American Gentleman
    • Director
      • Brady Corbet
    • Writers
      • Brady Corbet
      • Mona Fastvold
      • Jean-Paul Sartre
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews48

    6.27.2K
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    10

    Featured reviews

    8Stay_away_from_the_Metropol

    Corbet shows promise as a much-needed new darling of American filmmakers

    Well, it took about 2 years but I finally got around to watching this. The trailer was hands down my favorite of 2016. The fierce Scott Walker composition cut to all the stunning shots hooked me hard, and induced goosebumps every time I watched it.

    Let me say right off the bat that it is quite an odd film in the sense that it truly feels like an incredible pilot episode for a series, all building towards something that feels monstrous, but just as you reach that point, the movie is over. While this element is probably not for everyone, I was cracking up in supportive amusement during the closing sequence - I personally admired it's absence of a common folk sort of finale.

    Setting that oddity aside, which could be considered a pretty major flaw in some people's eyes, everything about this film is masterfully done... the whole cast kills. This was my intro to Berenice Bejo and she made a MARK! Simultaneously beautiful and elegant, and then, at turn of a hat, heinous and witchlike. Liam Cunningham is as strong and actor as possible, shown here through stoicism with an underlying weasliness to his character. Stacy Martin is intoxicating and graceful as usual and young TOM SWEET steals the show, flawlessly delivering as a child imprisoned in the confines of his own royal sort of upbringing. Every motion, every murmur that he delivers hits right on the mark.

    The film is absolutely gorgeous too. It's shot and directed beautifully in a very disciplined manner, and I'd use the same adjectives for the pacing. All the wardrobe, styling, and environments are tastefully chosen and displayed. And, of course, the frickin' legend SCOTT WALKER's score is intense and awesome - I wish there was more of his abrasive orchestral cuts but the film doesn't really call for it outside of the opening and the finale - I'll take what I can get.

    All I can say is after viewing this and based off of what I can tell so far about Corbet's upcoming second film, VOX LUX, he could very well be one of the new darlings of American filmmakers! Childhood of a Leader comes off as a huge risk to make in this era but he made it happen and I see it as a very ballsy move for a debut. Can't wait to see Corbet's second film VOX LUX starring Natalie Portman and Jude Law in theaters this December - I think he has a masterful catalogue in him waiting to be unleashed!
    6zacknabo

    Well Intended Misfire

    Brady Corbet has assimilated many wonderful visual styles which he has picked up over the past several years working with master directors such as Von Trier and Haneke, but this is all Corbet has accomplished. Reappropriating stunning visual film language does not a good director make, because used haphazardly the images lose their ominous, dark tone and are instead replaced with empty somewhat pretentious images that have nothing story or acting wise holding it up. So all we are left is a misfire. While Corbet is similar to another young director, Xavier Dolan, in that they are trapped exercising their personal influences, Dolan has more innate talent. I would say that Corbet's command of the camera at times is promising. The sad part is he has a great skeleton but no meat and few functioning organs. The performances are a bit flat, though they are only working with what they are giving. Bejo is tiresome and Pattinson is...Pattinson. The best scene is in the beginning where the young boy gets in trouble with snowballs, a possible reference to Abel Gance's Napoleon. Corbet like Napoleon is undone by his ambition. But I do wish more directors were this ambitious in their debuts. If nothing else Corbet swung for the fences...and he should know better: nobody does Haneke better than Haneke.
    6darren-153-890810

    Confused but couldn't stop thinking about it

    This is a brilliantly brave attempt to make a challenging and striking piece of art.

    On that level it works. The opening credits and first 10 minutes are intense. The Scott Walker soundtrack really pulls you in and immediately makes you think this is no ordinary film. And for that I loved it.

    The acting is absolutely superb. Not at any stage do you think they are actors. The boy, the mum and the tutor are the stand outs.

    The cinematography is superb, particularly near the end with the camera circling a dome, beautifully simple.

    The overall look and feel reminded me of The Duke Of Burgundy (One of my fav films of recent)

    There's not a lot of love in this family, thats for sure. The film is rather dull and slow though. I did find myself snnozebusting.

    The ending made no sense either. It wasn't until I chatted to the guys in the cinema that we sort of worked it out.

    I really respect the director for making a film like this. Im looking forward to his next film. Lets just hope more interesting stuff happens.

    If you liked the Witch, you'll love this.
    random-70778

    An absurd adaption of Sartre's story on Stalin and Hitler like character development

    Really this is a terrible film. It is ostensibly based on Sartre's "Childhood of a leader" about a child who grows up to be a Stalin or Hitler like character. The problems with this film derive from the maker veering off of Sartre's narrative -- because they clearly did not understand what Sartre was doing.

    First of all the disciplinary conditions as well as the "seen but not heard" views of children's roles were typical for that period, and in fact the great majority of the population did not turn out to be fascist or socialist/communist leaders
    summerssimon

    A flawed but powerful and very promising debut

    A flawed but very promising directorial debut from Brady Corbet. The plot meanders a little, promising more than it ultimately manages to deliver. There are, though, plenty of great moments as the film unfolds and the increasingly oppressive atmosphere of isolation, alienation and menace intensifies. Scott Walker's soundtrack is gloriously weird and over the top, and is used to particularly powerful effect in the set piece sequences that open and close the film. The acting is uniformly excellent. Tom Sweet delivers a fine performance as The Boy, whose increasingly violent tantrums are a sign of grim things to come. This is an intelligent and subtle film. A very good debut, which falls just short of being great.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This film marks the second collaboration between screenwriters Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, having collaborated in the screenplay for The Sleepwalker. The difference between this two collaborations is that Fastvold directed The Sleepwalker and Corbet directed this one.
    • Goofs
      Prescott's mother writes the French address on an envelope with a modern five-digit postcode. But France has had postcodes only since 1964, and the current five-digit ones only since 1972.
    • Quotes

      Charles: The tragedy is not only that Pontius Pilate betrayed his self but that hundreds in the crowd before him did betray their selves. And that's what I wrote was the tragedy of war. Not that one man has the courage to be evil but that so many have not the courage to be good.

    • Soundtracks
      Oui, Oui, Marie
      (uncredited)

      Written by Fred Fisher, Al Bryan, Joseph McCarthy

      Performed by Arthur Fields

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    FAQ18

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 22, 2016 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • United States
      • Canada
      • United Kingdom
      • France
      • Hungary
      • Belgium
    • Official site
      • Official site (Japan)
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
      • German
    • Also known as
      • La niñez de un líder
    • Filming locations
      • Buda Castle, Budapest, Hungary
    • Production companies
      • Scion Pictures
      • Bow and Arrow Entertainment
      • Bron Capital Partners
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $3,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross worldwide
      • $245,546
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 55 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

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