“The Godfather” goes to Corsica in “The Kingdom” (or “Le Royaume” in its native French), a nifty crime thriller mixed with a tender coming-of-age drama.
As in Francis Ford Coppola’s mob masterpiece, a senior mafioso is targeted for execution, so it’s time for his closest associates to go to the mattresses, whether they’re getting together for muttered conferences or popping out on assassination missions. One key difference between “The Godfather” and “The Kingdom,” the debut feature film from writer-director Julien Colonna, is that the gangsters in the latter are often seen on the beach with their shirts off. The other difference is that the godfather in waiting isn’t a war veteran, as Al Pacino’s Michael Corleone was, but a 15-year-old schoolgirl, Lesia, played by Ghjuvanna Benedetti, a striking newcomer.