The King of the Hill (2008)

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

And his day got off to such a promising start. After stopping at a petrol station, a man finds himself propositioned to have a quick bit of nookie in the ladies toilet by a sexy young brunette. RESULT!! Unfortunately, he later discovers she's nicked his wallet and lighter. Oops. Still, on the road again, he sees her turn off and decides to pursue her vehicle... and before long, in circumstances too convoluted to explain, both are forced to team up as they find themselves stranded in the wilderness, being shot at by unseen snipers. Quite a turn-up for the books, eh? Known as 'King Of The Hill' here in the UK (But with no connection to the TV show of the same name) this is a nail biting thriller with a very small cast, but an abundance of tension and realism. The aspect I most enjoyed was the way the participants were fleshed out, as despite being on the run for the most of length we discover a lot about them through their words and actions alone. Even the main 'villains', who we don't meet until late on, and their own unique perspectives. This is crucial to the movie's success as if it was a simple chase between two sets of caricatures with no discernible personalities, it wouldn't be half as absorbing as it clearly is.People get hurt, tired and frustrated. Their very lives are on the line. They never know where the gunmen will crop up next. The terrain they have to trek through is inhospitable too, to say the least. It's all done with miraculous skill by the director, as the stakes are raised with every scene. Make sure you go to the bathroom beforehand... you're not gonna want to tear yourself away for a minute. A great thrill ride, and a smart one as well. 7/10

Spanish screenwriter, film editor and director Gonzalez López-Gallego's fourth feature film which he co-wrote with screenwriter and producer Javier Gullón, was screened in the Discovery section at the 32nd Toronto International Film Festival in 2007 and is a Spanish production which was shot on locations in the municipality of Vinuesa and Soliedra in the city and province of Soria, Spain and was produced by Spanish screenwriter and producer Miguel Bardem and producers Juan Pita, Juanma Arance and Álvaro Augustin. It tells the story about Quim, a young man who while on his way to visit his former girlfriend Sofia, stops at a petrol station in a small rural community and gets robbed by a young girl he has never seen before. As the girl vanishes without a trace Quim continues towards his destination, but all of the sudden he sees a flash up in the mountains and hears that a bullet hits his car.Finely and engagingly directed by Spanish filmmaker Gonzalez López-Gallego, this fast-paced fictional tale draws a riveting portrayal of a young man's struggle to survive after coincidentally becoming the target of a group of psychopathic hunters in the highlands of Soria, Spain. While notable for it's naturalistic and atmospheric rural milieu depictions, the fine cinematography by screenwriter and cinematographer José David Montero, editing by Gonzalez López-Gallego and use of sound, this character-driven psychological thriller depicts a sparse though efficient study of character and contains a prominent score by composer David Crespo.This forebodingly atmospheric story about a man who is involuntarily designated as a participant in an inhumane game of life and death, is impelled and reinforced by it's cogent narrative structure, multiple viewpoints, esoteric characters and the involving acting performance by Argentinean actor Leonardo Sbaraglia. A continually intriguing mystery.

Qim, on his way from A to B, has a knee-trembler in a service station toilet with a young woman who steals his wallet. Pursuing her into unknown, and fairly inhospitable countryside, he is shot be persons unknown, following which he ends up being hunted and on the run for his life.This is not exactly unknown territory for a movie, albeit the characters usually have something by way of back story and motivation.On one level this movie is quite successful - the action is suspenseful and fairly well done, the hunted are always convincingly in jeopardy, the landscape is against them as much as their assailants, and the characters are all well played.On the other hand, the high concept is perhaps a bit too high - a bit more exposition would have helped, and a little more explanation as to what had happened, and why, at the end.

It's always fun to watch unsuspecting travellers encounter the horrors of the back-roads, so I was rather looking forward to King of The Hill. We follow Quim, on a mission to get back together with his girlfriend but put a little off track when an impromptu gas station tryst with a mysterious lady ends in her stealing his wallet. They meet again, but not before both have come under fire from a sniper, and the movie proceeds with the two of them trying to evade their unseen antagonists. Director Gonzalo Lopez Galego keeps things tight and mysterious for much of the time, concentrating on pace over character and attractive visuals and periodically jolting the viewers with short sharp bursts of action, skilfully turning the heat up moment by moment. The mountainous setting, trees, slopes and blue sky are well captured by the gorgeous cinematography of Jose David Montero, a picturesque setting at interesting odds with the impersonal menace that lurks within. Happily, the setting isn't just used for prettiness but excitement too, with rivers, trees, pitfalls and bushes all obstacles to navigate, there's an adventurous spirit to goings on that takes the film closer to classics like Deliverance than the more clichéd back-woods nastiness that tend to dominate films of this type. Stars Leonardo Sbaraglia and Maria Valverde make for a sympathetic pairing, wisely the film doesn't stop to long to give them a relationship but they have a certain mild chemistry that makes their bond under adversity a compelling one. For around two thirds or so of its length King of The Hill is rather great, hardly earth shattering in its events or approach but sufficiently well handled that it really stands out, unfortunately it doesn't end the same way. Like most films of its mysterious ilk, there's a "big reveal" here, and it's deeply ill-advised, an attempt at sombre significance that flops hard. A turn in events that would be unlikely and fairly tricky to pull off even if it were a significant part of the film from the start, here the film expects us to just buy the plot turn and then continues in the same uncompromising vein as before. To say much about why it doesn't work would be going into spoiler territory and since other have enjoyed this much more than I and not been troubled by the finale I won't divulge events, but for me it was daft verging on laughable, it not only took all the wind out of the film's sails but also rather tainted what had gone before. A saddening turn of events, as I wanted to dig this one and it came close to being a winner, but I can only go by my final impression, which was one of disappointment. A 5/10 then, even though for a fair amount of the runtime this is more like a high 7.