2024-04-06 06:04:00
HBO released the mini-series “Regime,” a political satire from the screenwriter of “Descendants” regarding a fictional dictatorship in Central Europe. Kate Winslet plays the main role. We’ll tell you why the actress will receive another Emmy for her, and the series itself will impress only those who have never lived in countries with a similar regime.
Small Central European country. From a magnificent palace, it is ruled by former doctor Elena Wernham (Kate Winslet), who is slowly losing her mind due to severe hypochondria. It seems to the Chancellor that deadly black mold has grown within the walls of the mansion. In search of a non-existent infection, Vernham’s entourage carries out endless and useless repairs in the palace. To calm the ruler down, she is assigned a companion – the cruel sociopath Corporal Herbert Zubak (Matthias Schoenaerts, who starred with Winslet in “An Affair of Versailles”), who recently foolishly shot a dozen protesting miners. Perhaps his only punishment is to absurdly follow Wernham around with a hygrometer, constantly measuring the humidity level around her.
However, when Zubak saves the boss from an assassination attempt, their relationship rapidly transforms. The silent lackey takes on the functions of bodyguard, nutritionist, minion and adviser, gaining more and more influence over the mentally unstable autocrat. Soon he is treating her with the steam of freshly boiled potatoes, teaching her to fight, pushing her toward aggressive nationalism and the destruction of the economy. Ministers, oligarchs and the listless French husband are not delighted with the appearance of Chancellor Wernham’s own Rasputin. The regime is under threat, the people are preparing for an uprising.
The six-episode political satire “Regime” marks the debut of writer and producer Will Tracy as showrunner. Previously, he satirized politicians in the talk show “Last Week with John Oliver,” the spoiled rich in “Descendants” and the world of fine dining in the dark comedy “Menu.” The production of the episodes was shared by experts on the British monarchy: the author of “The Queen” Stephen Frears and the director of “The Crown” Jessica Hobbs. By and large, the filmographies of all the main authors of the series had similar projects. Composer Alexandre Desplat wrote equally jaunty music for the fictional European country in The Grand Budapest Hotel. Cinematographer Alwin H. Küchler created a late-Soviet Moscow from Glasgow in “Tetris,” and production designer Cave Quinn transformed Italian and English estates into Catherine-era palaces for “The Great.”
HBO
HBO
HBO
The main driving force behind the project was its star and producer Kate Winslet, for whom this is already the third mini-series for HBO. The previous two, Mildred Pierce and Mare of Easttown, brought the Titanic star a pair of Emmys and Golden Globes. A serious actress who plays a comedy once every ten years clearly enjoys the strangeness of the toxic and arrogant heroine.
There are enough of them, I must say. The Chancellor keeps his father’s decomposing body in a glass coffin in the basement (he was a right-wing politician), strictly forbids his subordinates to breathe in her direction and sings a rock ballad out of tune to his supporters.If You Leave Me Now” She addresses her people only as “darlings”—an alarm bell. Winslet conveys constant tension and psychological trauma in detail with facial expressions on the verge of a nervous breakdown. For the way Wernham expressively twists her mouth when listening to a critical report regarding her decisions, the actress should be awarded another gold statuette.
Irrational, suspicious and reckless, Wernham combines the recognizable characteristics of famous politicians of varying degrees of odiousness. The authors of the series do not seek to create a caricature of a specific dictator. Elena’s manner of speaking is reminiscent of Queen Elizabeth II, and her pigtails and folk costumes are reminiscent of Yulia Tymoshenko. The chancellor had a difficult relationship with his nationalist father, like Marine Le Pen. Like Putin, she holds meetings at overly long tables, dreams of taking over neighboring countries, citing the region’s long history, and sends opposition leaders to prison (incidentally, a leftist opposition leader is played in an ironic cameo by Hugh Grant). Like Trump, Wernham relies on populism and has no sense of taste. The heroine has already been compared even to Eva Peron and Elena Ceausescu.
The same fusion from different states is country N itself, where the events of the series unfold. This place has a common ancient Slavic history with Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic (this is hinted at by the mention of the myth regarding the “three Slavic brothers”). Cobalt and sugar beets are exported from here in tons, but the nomenclature speaks with a British accent. Only the patriotic native Zubak, played by the Belgian Schoenaerts, wheezes with a cartoonishly threatening Slavic pronunciation. In general, this is another godforsaken Sokovia or Zubrovka, which was filmed in the lush Austrian residences of the Habsburgs and Liechtensteins.
Max
In a word, this is a set of commonplaces that look not very witty and poisonous in the current geopolitical situation, when reality has become angrier and crazier than any satire. It’s no wonder that Armando Iannucci, the creator of The Death of Stalin, Vice President and The Thick of It, switched from satire to space and Dickens, declaring that modern politicians killed his favorite genre. Tracy vaguely imitates Iannucci’s intonation, describing the series as “Downton Abbey in an autocrat’s palace.” But at the same time, the showrunner manages to show the dark farce taking place around a dictator divorced from reality, when the environment both influences his picture of the world and tries to please him in everything.
The “Regime” does not say anything new regarding autocracies. After all, it cannot be said that every unhappy dictatorship is unhappy in its own way. Elena rules her country using surveillance, security forces and her own charisma. Free and fair elections are impossible if the main candidate is paranoid. We have to get closer to either China or the United States. A real thirst for power cannot be quelled by any sanctions. And even mustard plasters won’t help here. In general, not everyone will experience the joy of recognition while watching the series.
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