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KING OF TIME
KING OF TIME
Two Geneva representatives of precision watches end up on Bali at the end of their trade journey through Southeast Asia in 1923. After delivering their precious cargo, a meticulously crafted music box, to the court of the Raja, a deadly demonic force is awakened, turning the lives of the two “time-benders” on the Dutch-colonized paradise island into a living hell.
A Mystery Drama by Sebastian Frommelt and Dominik Wolfinger
From Southeast Asia to Africa and Oceania, European imperialists fought against all alternative forms of timekeeping. They considered any region without mechanical clocks modeled after the West as a land without time. Once this was implemented, no one could decipher time from nature anymore. — Giordano Nanni, "The Colonization of Time"
KING OF TIME tells the story of Jérôme Dumont (25), heir to a Geneva watch empire, who arrives in Bali at the end of a long business trip through Southeast Asia in 1923. He is accompanied by Pierre Delore (60), who, after almost 30 years as a trade representative in Asia, is gradually burned out. Their mission is to deliver an exquisite Swiss music clock to the local Raja, as a gift from Willem Van Dijk, a Dutch colonist residing in Bali. Van Dijk plans to build a railway around the volcanic Mount Agung to open new fields for opium cultivation. For this he needs the Raja’s approval, but the Raja is under the influence of Hindu priests, who strongly oppose the railway project, fearing that demons will escape from the earth during the construction of the tracks.
While Pierre retreats to the room of their harbor guesthouse and while waiting for their departure home, Jérôme meets Van Dijk’s wife, Nellie (28), who has long distanced herself from her ruthless husband’s schemes. Nellie introduces Jérôme to the complex world of Balinese society. Jérôme’s initial fascination with the strangeness and exoticism of the local culture and religion slowly gives way to the realization that Nellie’s husband Willem, obsessed with power and control, wants to introduce a new regime, strictly governed by the clock. For this, he has ordered dozens of Swiss precision wristwatches in addition to the music clock. He equips his foremen and officers of the colonial army with these watches.
The ceremonial activation of the music clock in the Raja’s palace actually summons a dark, menacing entity from the beyond, which begins a series of inexplicable murders. Later, it is revealed to be the spirit of a dead Raja who perished a few years ago in a massacre known as the "Puputan," where the Dutch colonial army killed thousands of rebellious Balinese, including many women and children. The Raja demon seeks revenge not only on the colonists and their Balinese collaborators but also on the bearers of the "time-enslaving machine" from Switzerland.
When Pierre, supposedly in a dengue fever delirium, murders the Raja in his sleep with a Swiss pocketknife and is then killed by the palace guards, the already simmering tensions boil over. Jérôme finds himself caught in the middle of accusations and confrontations, and after killing a man in self-defence, he is fully trapped between opposing forces. With Nelly’s help, Jérôme manages to hide from his pursuers. With the assistance of Nelly’s Balinese housekeeper, Wayan (30), he succeeds in discovering clues to supernatural forces through a spiritual ritual that must have taken control of Pierre.
Despite Nelly’s objections, Jérôme insists on stealing the music clock from the Raja’s palace, believing it to be the source of all the trouble. In the process, he is confronted by Van Dijk, who chases him out to the open sea, where the two fight aboard a fishing boat. Van Dijk falls into the water and drowns. Instead of helping him, Jérôme throws the music clock into the water after him and it sinks to the ocean floor. Van Dijk’s henchmen witness the act. After a daring escape, Jérôme, along with Nelly and Wayan, just manages to board a passenger ship to Europe before the port of Singaraja is closed for shipping traffic by the colonial army due to the violent riots. During the voyage, Wayan jumps overboard, apparently committing suicide. Nelly suspects the influence of the demon in this unmotivated act. Is it traveling with them?
Upon arrival in the Netherlands, Nelly, possessed by the demon, kills her elderly uncle, who had been involved as a commanding officer during the Puputan. Jérôme, now a wanted murderer and thought to be the deceased son of the watch king, returns to Geneva via the unguarded border. Like a shadow that cannot be shaken off, the black demon follows Jérôme to the most sacred site of Swiss precision timekeeping—the Dumont watch factory. There, the dark figure from beyond reveals itself as the murdered Raja and performs a bewildered "choreography" of destruction in the factory. At the very same time, the sun sets in Bali in a red glowing ball over the sea. The King of Time goes to sleep.
KING OF TIME is still in the scripting phase. A detailed exposé is already available though. The authors, Sebastian Frommelt and Dominik Wolfinger have granted producer Orlando Bassi (Movie Studio Bali, Black Rice Production) the legal right, within the framework of an optional contract, to pass this pitch deck to any third parties in order to find co-producers or investors for the project.
Liechtenstein, February 2024.