His Late Excellency: A Dusty Blast from the Past

Should you watch His Late Excellency? If you’re into the kind of black-and-white comedies where people stand in rooms and shout at each other about social standing, you might have a good time. If you prefer your pacing to be anything faster than a slow crawl, skip it entirely. This is for the completists and the folks who like their cinema with a side of mothballs.

The whole thing feels oddly rigid. You get the sense that the actors were told to never, ever relax their shoulders. It’s stiff, but that stiffness is kind of the point, right? Arthur Schröder plays the role with such a specific kind of pomposity that it almost loops back around to being endearing. Almost.

There’s a scene about halfway through where they’re all gathered around a table, and the camera just stays there. It stays there for so long that I started counting the patterns on the wallpaper. It’s not necessarily bad filmmaking, but it’s definitely the kind of choice that makes you realize exactly how much time has passed since this was relevant.

It lacks the punch of something like Another Language, which manages to feel grounded even when it’s trying to make a point. Here, the points are hit with a hammer. You don’t need to guess what these people are feeling because they’ll probably just announce it to the room.

I caught myself thinking about the lighting. It’s harsh. Like, 'everything is a stage play' harsh. It makes the faces look like they’re carved out of wax during the close-ups. 🕯️

Is it a masterpiece? No. Is it interesting to see how these stories were told way back when? Yeah, I guess so. It reminds me a bit of the frantic energy in Thanks for the Buggy Ride, though this one has way less zip and way more ego.

The dialogue is thick. It’s all manners and slight insults delivered with a bow. After a while, your brain kind of numbs out to the words and you just watch the shapes moving around the frame. It’s actually kind of meditative if you don't fight it.

Don't expect a revelation. Don't expect to walk away thinking about the human condition. Just enjoy the weird, stilted rhythm of it. It’s like watching someone perform a dance where they keep forgetting the steps, but they’re too confident to care. 🤷‍♂️