None of them is able to hold back. Three men, one dream. Fiennes gives each of them a different look and a different temperament, yet his presence not only ties them together but also reflects the persistence of the chimera, the stubbornness of the false hope of assimilation. When his characters dress up in fancy uniforms and walk through buildings of monumental scale where majestic men wield their power, it must seem that these mighty rulers and their great edifices must endure forever. They mistake the trappings for the substance.
Men die, rulers are overthrown, new regimes take over.
The politics change but the malevolence endures. The alternative lies in home and hearth, the comfort of the familiar rooms of the Sonnenschein home and particularly its courtyard, where renewal occurs repeatedly throughout the film and even a kind of miracle. Some elements of the film are autobiographical, and he has clearly drawn on his country's history. The tone is melodramatic and the movie sometimes sprawls all over itself. All rights reserved.