| Credited cast: | |||
| Mark Rylance | ... | The Magistrate | |
| Johnny Depp | ... | Colonel Joll | |
| Robert Pattinson | ... | Officer Mandel | |
| Gana Bayarsaikhan | ... | The Girl | |
| Greta Scacchi | ... | Mai | |
| David Dencik | ... | The Clerk | |
| Sam Reid | ... | The Lieutenant | |
| Harry Melling | ... | Garrison Soldier 4 | |
| Bill Milner | ... | Garrison Soldier 5 | |
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Gursed Dalkhsuren | ... | Old Prisoner |
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Tserendagva Purevdorj | ... | Old Barbarian |
| Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
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Haqi Ali | ... | Farmer 2 |
| Paul Bazely | ... | The Herbalist | |
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Hami Belal | ... | Joll's Man #1 |
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Adam Bensallah | ... | Mai's Grandson |
A Magistrate working in a distant outpost begins to question his loyalty to the empire.
Set in the 19th century in an unnamed Asian frontier post, this story describes how imperialism and colonialism disrupts the lives of ordinary people. Mark Rylance is the magistrate of a peaceful settlement where the biggest crime is a pig invading a neighbour's garden brilliantly acting an excellent script based in a prize winning novel,. Johnny Depp is the sinister policeman from the capital who suspects a rebellion and uses torture to get "confessions" A young nomadic girl who is a victim is befriended by the magistrate. The story is well told and the scenery spectacular- deserts and mountains. What is very well done by this film set in the past is that the methods of the policeman, the attitude of the empire , and the whole issue or race and occupation are as relevant today , and this is an allegory of what is happening in the Middle East, the Congo and elsewhere at this very moment.