Kinshasa Palace

In his earlier film Paris: XY, the director Zeka Laplaine plays a character called Max. In Kinshasa Palace he is looking for a character with the same name. This man has disappeared without trace after leaving his children at a station, leaving no clue as to his future movements.
Zeka, who lives in Paris and in the film acts under the anagram Kaze, starts a quest that does not only throw light on the complex history of Congo, but also paints a cutting picture of the disruptive influence this history has on a family. Spread over several continents, the depressed and tormented white father, his sister who grew up in a boarding school, Max’ children and the obstinate black mother who stayed behind in Congo show us the sensitivities that have been dormant for years and can now be talked about to a certain extent in the wake of Max’ disappearance.
A letter that arrives for Max finally takes Kaze to Cambodia, where it briefly looks as if he will find his brother. But Laplaine plays a skilful game with reality and fiction. The images are unadorned and it isn’t easy to say where reality ends and fiction starts. It isn’t important either; Laplaine has chosen a cinematographic form that works like an x-ray and shows more than the most truthful story. (SdH)

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