He looks angelic, little Prescott, but his moods become increasingly vehement. While his American father, an adviser to President Woodrow Wilson, focuses on the peace conditions in the Treaty of Versailles, his son turns into a potentate back home.
Scott Walker’s stirring orchestral soundtrack, which swells at the start of The Childhood of a Leader to a barely tolerable level, immediately makes it clear this isn’t any ordinary drama about a difficult child. Black-and-white shots show the havoc in Europe after the First World War. It is 1919 - Prescott’s tantrums are only a harbinger.
This original feature debut by the you ng American director and scriptwriter Brady Corbet bursts with ambition, not least on the technical level. The ominous drama, beautifully filmed on 35mm with an impressive leading role by the young Tom Sweet, is a unique story about the origins and flourishing of evil. Closing film IFFR 2016.