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Hey guys! Horrorella here...
Arriving on VOD from Russia this week, FORBIDDEN EMPIRE (which could also be titled Brotherhood of the Grimm Sleepy Hollow Witchhunters) initially sounds like fun – explorers venturing into the deepest, darkest corners of Europe, at a time when magic still held sway over the world, discovering witches, supernatural activity and the like. It stars Jason Flemyng and Charles Dance – both plusses, in my book. And even though the more adult-oriented fantasy fare doesn’t always land big at the box office, it can still have a lot to offer. Unfortunately, this film is a case where both spectacle and substance fail to live up to their promise.
Loosely adapted from Nikolai Gogol’s “Viy” Jason Flemyng plays Jonathan Green, noted cartographer who embarks on an adventure to fill in some of the exploration gaps and make the world a little more navigable. He travels in a steampunk carriage and applies a number of fancy-shmancy tools to his trade, setting the scene for a story that is slightly removed from reality, but close enough to it to give it a historical foothold. He winds up in a strange little village in the Ukraine that happens to be plagued by an evil monster, witchcraft, and unfortunately rocky plot beats.
As much fun as it may sound, from the second the film starts, it just feels off. Bumpy, jarring and oftentimes incomprehensible, it takes several separate, unconnected start points before things are up and running with any kind of logical pacing. And even once Thundercats are finally Go, it doesn’t progress with any sort of comfortable flow or rhythm. Characters drift in and out of the proceedings, scenes fail to bridge together, and it becomes difficult to understand just how anything connects or plays into the greater plotline. And Charles Dance seems to be off in his own little movie.
Some of what doesn’t work with FORBIDDEN EMPIRE could be chalked up to a basic cultural disconnect. I’m not at all up on my Russian Lit and am not super familiar with Nikolai Gogol's body of work, but the film seems to play out as if taking on a well-known cultural touchpoint – a familiar fairytale or folk story. Thus, there is a lot that seems to go unexplained, perhaps because director Oleg Stepchenko didn’t think exposition was entirely necessary due to the audience's familiarity with the subject. But since "Viy" isn't as familiar on this side of the pond as, say, Hansel and Gretel, it doesn't all click for viewers not in the know.
But a story like this should be able to bridge that gap and tell a compelling and solid narrative that the viewer can follow, regardless of background knowledge. I might not walk away understanding the cultural significance of this work to the people of Russia, but I should certainly be able to walk away with an understanding of what our hero was doing and why – and I didn’t get that – the film was way too disjointed for any kind of clear narrative takeaway. Cultural unfamiliarity only goes so far – you still have to be able to tell a coherent story, and that just wasn’t happening here.
If you have an interest in Gogol’s works or in Russian folklore, I’d be interested to know how this adaptation translates. For the rest of us, FORBIDDEN EMPIRE is a frustrating experience that will likely leave you scratching your head more than cheering.
