King of California

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Movie
German title King of California
Original title King of California
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 2007
length 93 minutes
Age rating FSK 12
Rod
Director Mike Cahill
script Mike Cahill
production Randall Emmett ,
Avi Lerner ,
Michael London ,
Alexander Payne
music David Robbins
camera James Whitaker
cut Glenn Garland
occupation

King of California is an American comedy film from the year 2007 . It was directed by Mike Cahill, who also wrote the script.

action

The responsible 16-year-old Miranda does not have an easy life in her life. Abandoned by her own mother, she dropped out of school early in order to be able to stay afloat with a temporary job in a fast-food restaurant. In this situation, her mentally confused and penniless father Charlie is released after spending two years in a psychiatric institution, who now also turns Miranda's life upside down with his surprising and apparently completely crazy ideas. Charlie is obsessed with the idea of recovering a long-lost treasure trove of 17th century Spanish conquerors who he suspects is somewhere in the vicinity of their run-down house. He bases his thesis on information from the diary of Padre Juan Florismarte Torres , a Spanish missionary who once flew through southern California with his expedition team from angry locals and hid the treasure in a cave.

At first, the skeptical girl thinks her father is crazy, but little by little she is also drawn into his treasure hunt. Together, the two roam the area around the town of Santa Clarita in search of clues in order to find the whereabouts of the lost wealth. Miranda's research reveals that the treasure was probably hidden in a place where a new community with a branch of the Costco Wholesale supermarket chain was later built. In order to finance his costly research, Charlie sells Miranda's run-down car without being asked, which she had previously spared herself at great privation. An argument ensues, and Charlie eventually transfers his double bass to buy her car back.

Miranda, instigated by her father, applies for a job in the relevant supermarket in order to get the master key for a nightly visit, which she succeeds. Her father's persistent financial difficulties give Miranda more and more problems. The two carelessly lose not only all their furniture but also their little house and become homeless. Nevertheless, they continue to plan to recover the treasure. With the help of the aging Pepper, a childhood friend and musician colleague Charlie, Miranda and Charlie break into the supermarket at night and pry open the foundation of the concrete floor with the tools available there. An underground river with a high hydrogen sulfide content emerges, into which Charlie jumps in a diving suit found in the supermarket and, after a while, presumably finds the doubloons treasure he had hoped for .

Since the nightly action does not go undisturbed, he ties his desperate daughter to cover up Miranda's involvement in the crime, but gives her a piece of paper with a barcode and says goodbye to his daughter. After you see him dragging a small but heavy box through the supermarket, he jumps back into the underground river. The answer to what exactly happens to Charlie in the end remains with the film. All that is said is that neither he nor his body could be found. At the end of the film, Miranda drives her old car to the supermarket and buys a dishwasher, exactly the one Charlie had given her earlier. In tears she opens her shopping on the beach and discovers something unbelievable in it, at least the expression on her face allows this to be concluded. In the final scene, Miranda is happily driving up a coastal road.

Reviews

Walter Addiego wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle of September 28, 2007 that the film reminded him of those " counterculture beloved " films of the 1970s in which rebels would go down " in flames of moral victory ." The " poignant portrayal of the loving father-daughter relationship " appealed to the critic. It is " nice " to see Michael Douglas outside of the mainstream. Evan Rachel Wood fulfills the promise she made in her earlier films Thirteen and High School Confidential .

Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times on September 21, 2007 that the plot was absurd. He praised Michael Douglas and Evan Rachel Wood for playing " potentially unplayable characters " well.

The lexicon of the international film judges: “ Solid, but rather unsurprisingly staged father-daughter story, which develops into a nice to look at film with a bit of effort. "

background

The film was shot in Los Angeles and in Santa Clarita ( California turned).

premiere

The film had its world premiere on January 24, 2007 at the Sundance Film Festival . On September 11, 2007, it was screened at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival . From September 14, 2007, it was shown in selected cinemas in the United States, where it grossed around 248,000 US dollars by October 21, 2007 . The German theatrical release followed on November 15, 2007.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Certificate of Release for King of California . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , September 2007 (PDF; test number: 111 398 K).
  2. ^ Film review by Walter Addiego, accessed on November 5, 2007
  3. ^ Film review by Roger Ebert, accessed November 5, 2007
  4. ^ Journal film-dienst and Catholic Film Commission for Germany (eds.), Horst Peter Koll and Hans Messias (ed.): Lexikon des Internationale Films - Filmjahr 2007 . Schüren Verlag, Marburg 2008. ISBN 978-3-89472-624-9
  5. ^ Filming locations for King of California, accessed November 5, 2007
  6. ^ Box office / business for King of California, accessed August 8, 2008
  7. ↑ King of California premiere dates , accessed August 8, 2008