Last of the High Kings

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Movie
German title Last of the High Kings
Original title The Last of the High Kings
Summer Fling
Country of production Ireland ,
United Kingdom , Denmark
original language English
Publishing year 1996
length 99-104 minutes
Age rating FSK 6
Rod
Director David Keating
script Gabriel Byrne ,
David Keating
production Keith Northrop ,
Tim Palmer ,
Bob Weinstein ,
Harvey Weinstein ,
John Wolstenholme
music Michael Convertino
camera Bernd Heinl
cut Ray Lovejoy
occupation
synchronization

Last of the High Kings (original title The Last of the High Kings , cross-reference Summer Fling ) is an Irish - British - Danish drama film directed by David Keating from 1996 . The script is based on a novel by the Irish writer Ferdia MacAnna . The leading roles are cast with Catherine O'Hara , Jared Leto , Christina Ricci and Gabriel Byrne .

action

Frankie Griffin, seventeen years old in 1977, lives in Dublin . The music of Thin Lizzy is hip and the death of Elvis Presley is a shock for many people. Frankie has just finished school, but the result of the final exam is still pending. Frankie worries that he may have failed. The visit of the young Erin from America comes in very handy to distract him from his fear of failure. Erin falls in love with Frankie, who, however, finds the high school queens Jayne Wayne and Romy Thomas, as he believes girls unreachable for him, more attractive from his school, so Erin withdraws and leaves again. When he meets Lorraine playing billiards, they both end up in bed shortly afterwards and everything seems fine. Frankie says the wrong thing, however, and Lorraine throws him out.

When Frankie finally holds his exam result in his hands after a seemingly endless time of six weeks, the days of which he has crossed off every day, he is overwhelmed and overjoyed by the result "passed" because he can now make a decision whether to study wants or what else he starts. He's gifted when it comes to writing and music too, but he's reluctant to let anyone know.

For now, however, a lavish party is the order of the day, to which Frankie's large family and all friends will also gather and to think about the recently deceased Elvis Presley. But someone very special makes Frankie's heart beat faster, he's with Romy now. The concerns that his Catholic mother had against the Protestant girl have been suspended.

production

Production notes, filming

The film was produced by Nordisk Film , Northolme Entertainment, Parallel Film Productions, Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) and Screen Ireland (financing). It was distributed by Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, First Independent Films and Miramax, among others .

Shooting began in August 1995 in the Cape Breton Highlands in Nova Scotia in Canada , in the Irish cities of Dublin and Howth , in County Fingal , and in Seattle in Washington State in the United States .

Soundtrack

synchronization

publication

The film premiered in Ireland on November 22, 1996 and in the United Kingdom on December 6, 1996. In 1997 it was shown in Australia and Finland, and in 1998 in the United States, Poland and Norway. It was released on video in Argentina in 1999 and released in Spain that same year. 1999 was also shown at the European Union Film Festival in Singapore. It appeared on video in Hungary in 2001 and on television in France. It has also been published in Brazil, Greece, Italy, Romania and Russia. The video title in the US is Summer Fling .

The film was released in the Federal Republic of Germany on October 16, 1997.

reception

criticism

Brian Webster wrote in the Apollo Guide that Jared Leto played his role "understated" and "convincing". Actors Gabriel Byrne and Catherine O'Hara, who play his parents, are not nearly as believable ("aren't nearly as believable"). While O'Hara "irritates" with her portrayal, the character played by Byrne is "insignificant".

Andrew L. Urban of urbanCinefile said The Last of the High Kings was a mildly disappointing film, which shows emotional engagement, surrounds itself with dramatic tension, advertises with romance and tries to seduce with Irish charm, which the weak script does not provide . In the good-looking young star Jared Leto, one would have wished for more inner charisma, his mother, played by Chatherine O'Hara, played a completely contradictory Irish character full of pride and passion, emotional volatility and a good dose of bigotry and, with the right dose, decent pragmatism '. Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Rea, and Christina Ricci are all wasted on rather random characters who, while playing great, could not add anything to the film's value if it came down to it. All of this makes the film long, too long.

Derek Winnert disagreed with the fact that he wrote that Keating had made an engaging and intelligent Irish tragicomedy with an excellently crafted script. Winnert spoke of a surprisingly sweet Irish story carried by Jared Leto as a brooding young lad named Frankie Griffin, who had to grapple with the wonders of life in Dublin in 1977, and especially with his narcissistic actor father and his strange Protestant mother.

On the English site The Video Vacuum , Summer Fling was apostrophized as a harmless little story that wasn't exactly great or anything, but there was more to watch than is often the case, which is probably due to the well-rounded cast. Byrne is pretty good at his short scenes and Stephen Rea can be seen in a cameo as a funny taxi driver. Christina Ricci was certified as having an excellent performance, whose part could have been bigger. O'Hara is not bad in her role, but her character is quite unpleasant.

Nathan Rabin from AV / Film said this was a pleasant, unpretentious and ultimately inexpensive film that came so close to the conventions of coming-of-age films that it bordered on a self-parody. From the melancholy and wistful narrative to the aspiring novelist protagonist to the pop culture event (in this case the death of Elvis), Summer Fling uses every convention of the genre. The supporting roles in the film are actually well cast, Leto seem a bit embarrassing as the wistful protagonist and O'Hara delivers an almost embarrassingly exaggerated performance as his conservative-Protestant mother, who is hated by many.

Award

David Keating was nominated for the "Emden Film Award" at the 1997 Emden-Norderney International Film Festival .

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ The Last of the High Kings filming locations in the IMDb (English)
  2. ↑ Summer Fling Fig. DVD case in the IMDb
  3. ^ Brian Webster: The Last of the High Kings ( Memento of the original from October 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. see apolloguide.com (English) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.apolloguide.com
  4. ↑ Andrew L. Urban: Last of the High Kings see urbancinefile.com.au (English). Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  5. ↑ Derek Winnert: The Last of the High Kings see derekwinnert.com (English). Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  6. ↑ Summer Fling (1998) see thevideovaccum.livejournal.com (English). Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  7. ^ Nathan Rabin: Summer Fling see film.avclub.com (English). Retrieved March 10, 2019.
  8. ↑ The Last of the High Kings Awards in the IMDb (English)