“Washed-up Director, crazy Hollywood star, oppressive Dictator, sexy double agent, stalker; they are all… Lost in Karastan”.
Sounds epic doesn’t it? … well, on the scale of ‘epic-icity’, Lost in Karastan is about as ‘epic’ as the film Emil (Matthew Macfayden) is asked to direct while “lost” in Karastan – take from that what you will.
Following on from that semi-scathing introduction, a little back story;
Emil Forester is said washed-up movie director. He receives a call from ‘Chulpan’ (MyAnna Buring) a representative from ‘Karastan’, inviting him to a film festival at which his work is being honoured.
Upon arriving, he realises that the country is run by a bizarre dictator, Abashiliev, (Richard Van Weyden) and is in a dire state of disrepair. Emil is forced to spend time with a rather ridiculous B-list actor ‘Xan Butler’ (Noah Taylor) and is encouraged to direct an ‘epic’ film in an attempt to encourage tourism into the country.
Unfortunately I found ‘Lost in Karastan’ mostly underwhelming. There are certainly moments during the film that earn a titter, for example I did appreciate one particular scene when, having been provided with an Information Pack, Emil is enquiring about the necessity of tanks throughout the City, to which Chulpan dryly stated, “For all information see information pack. I spent 3 days making it, so you can use it”.
“Lost in Karastan” had the capacity to be a real gem but alas mostly fails, trying a bit too hard to be funny and quirky and never quite hitting the mark. That said, if you’re a fan of ‘Borat’ and similar type films, you might find enough moments in “Lost in Karastan” to enjoy.
Lost in Karastan is out now