The King Is Alive

Levring's Dogme film takes a familiar situation - a bunch of strangers (in this case, coach passengers) is stranded in the middle of nowhere (here, the African desert) with scant chance of rescue before at least some of their number succumb to hostile nature and/or in-fighting - and adds resonance by having them stave off boredom and fear by putting on a play: King Lear. Nothing enormously original, then, as fevers and tensions rise and hopes sink - Levring wisely doesn't push the Lear parallels too far - but it's all very watchable, thanks to excellent performances all round, Jens Schlosser's camerawork (equally good on close-up faces and parched landscapes) and taut pacing.