In the past month, Netflix has premiered two visually impressive historical dramas by noted directors. Aleksei German Jr.’s Dovlatov, a nontraditional biopic of Russian novelist Sergei Dovlatov, became available to stream at the end of October, while David Mackenzie’s Outlaw King, about the Scots’ armed rebellion against English occupation in the early 14th century, was made available on the site two weeks ago. Neither film is American, yet both feel like Hollywood productions in their slick stylization and blatant anachronisms. In fact one might say that Dovlatov and Outlaw King go down as easily as they do because they advance a recognizably contemporary perspective on the past. One watches these films comfortably on the “right” side of history—it’s clear who you’re supposed to root for and jeer against, and the filmmakers make efforts to honor 21st-century concepts of anti-imperialism and women’s rights. I can’t speak to the historical accuracy of either, though I wouldn’t be surprised if it were minimal in both.
There are just enough characteristically imaginative passages to make the film worthwhile. The opening sequence—which seems to transpire in an unbroken eight-minute shot—is perhaps the best in the entire picture, with Mackenzie’s roving camera communicating a sense of curiosity about the past that evokes such medieval epics as Andrei Rublev and Marketa Lazarová. In this scene, the film introduces its characters, setting, and central power dynamics with the fluidity of Mackenzie’s best work. Outlaw King loses that sense of fluidity soon after, the stunning long takes giving way to choppy editing (which makes me wonder if the director’s first cut of the film, which was 20 minutes longer than the present version, maintained the aesthetic of the opening scene), but Mackenzie still manages to assert his artistic personality through the relationship between Robert and his wife Elizabeth. King Edward of England marries off Elizabeth, his goddaughter, to Robert early in the film to improve English-Scottish relations. The political relationship quickly disintegrates, but Elizabeth and Robert grow to love each other—in part because Elizabeth demands that Robert treat her like an equal in their partnership. This sort of enlightened romance may seem highly unlikely within a medieval setting, but it provides a welcome antidote to the chauvinism one usually encounters in films that take place in this period.
Directed by Aleksei German Jr. In Russian with subtitles. PG-13, 126 min.Outlaw King ★★ Directed by David Mackenzie. R, 121 min.
