Brodinski
05-21-11, 12:53 PM
Rundskop
It doesn’t happen very often that a positive vibe surrounds a Flemish film. In general, we’re a people who like to remain skeptic about films until we’ve actually seen them, especially when it concerns our “own” films. But rumour had it, even months before Rundskop (Bullhead is the English title) was released, that this could truly be something special. There was much ado about the fact that the lead actor, Matthias Schoenaerts, gained no less than 60 pounds of muscle and mastered a local accent for his portrayal of Jacky Vanmarsenille. And then there was the fact that the picture was selected for the film festival of Berlin, a first ever for a Flemish production. Add to that that this this film was mainly filmed in my own hometown and neighboring villages, and would be spoken in my very own dialect. Needless to say, the bar had been set on a high level, but would Rundskop and debutant director Michael R. Roskam be able to meet it?
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p29/ForgotsoFatso/rundskop.jpg
Schoenaerts portrays Jacky Vanmarsenille, a collosal figure who works at the farm of his parents, somewhere in the whereabouts of Sint-Truiden. To make his cattle fatter in quick fashion, he injects it with hormones. Through a corrupt vet that supplies him with hormones, he gets into contact with Marc De Kuyper, a western-Flemish meat trader who is involved in the murder of a federal agent. De Kuyper is being watched by the feds for quite some time and now Jacky also ends up on the list of murder suspects. More importantly even, a person in the entourage of De Kuyper, named Diederik Maes, knows Vanmarsenille from way back when they were still kids. He knows of a tragic event that occurred in Jacky’s childhood that looms over him to this very day.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p29/ForgotsoFatso/runds.jpg
At first glance, Rundskop appears to be an exposé on the hormone mafia in Belgium, but make no mistake: that entire mafia story is actually a background story serving as a sort of metaphor for the crisis that Jacky is going through. The film is in fact a character study of a severely frustrated human being who has been through something in his childhood that makes regular social intercourse with people nearly impossible. The pivotal moment in the film occurs about halfway through, when Jacky’s trauma is revealed in a long, impressively directed flashback. Before that sequence, you think you’re watching a crime drama with a tormented main character that has been through some rough patches in his life. In retrospect, you then realize that it was about Vanmarsenille’s inner demons all along and that the intrigue with De Kuyper and the federal police mainly serves to support the tragic tale, although it does add more meat (hmm…) to the story. In a certain sense, director Michael Roskam manages to give a twist to his film halfway through that puts everything in a new light, but doesn’t feel forced or cheap in any way. As a story telling technique, this whole set-up is nothing short of terrific, as Roskam profiles himself as an intelligent story teller who manages to keep you engaged all the way through.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p29/ForgotsoFatso/runds1.jpg
The actors are all-around solid. The standout in the lead, Matthias Schoenaerts, who turns in an impressive performance as the taciturn, tormented Jacky Vanmarsenille. His gestures, facial expression and body language are more important than what he says, as they are a perfect implication of his traumatized background. It has to be said that his mastery of the regional dialect is very good, but not without flaw. Still, these flaws can only be noticed by people from my hometown or neighboring villages, which is always going to be the case when someone is only practicing a language or dialect for a year, no matter how much effort one puts into it. Jeroen Perceval delivers a solid performance as Jacky’s childhood friend, Diederik Maes. He put a strong emotional intensity in his character that is very much visible, without being over the top.
You can see though that director Roskam struggled with the bleakness of his own creation. To create a few moments of comic relief, he decided to insert two Walloon garage keepers in the story who exchange verbal snaps at each other whilst trying to dump a stolen car and dealing with its aftermath. Those characters don’t really work and aren’t fitting at all considering the overall tone of the film. Luckily, their screen time in Rundskop is modest, so they don’t have that much of a negative effect on the film as a whole.
Still, Rundskop is one of the finest films that the Flemish part of Belgium has ever produced. Maiden director Michaël R. Roskam turns in an intense, brooding film that is both an intriguing crime story about the hormone mafia in Flanders and an emotionally-gripping tragedy.
4.5
Le Gamin au Vélo
This is an atypical Dardenne film. In fact, it’s the closest a Dardenne film has gotten to being mainstream. Especially in comparison with Rosetta or Le Fils, Le Gamin au Vélo is much more accessible. The camera work is less nervous, the tone is more light-hearted, the plot is more narrative and there is more lighting (might sound silly, but those familiar with Dardenne know this wasn’t the case in their previous outings). And for the first time ever, the Dardennes casted a bonafide superstar as one of the main actors, namely Cécile de France.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p29/ForgotsoFatso/gamin.png
Does this all mean that Belgium’s most famous directors have kneeled before King Commercialism and turned in a crowdpleaser? No, I wouldn’t go that far. This is still a realist drama set in rural Wallonia. Furthermore, the Dardennes don’t bypass the grim facts of life in Le Gamin au Vélo. The main character – the 12 year-old Cyril – gets a lot on his plate for his young age: his father dumped him in an orphanage and his favourite bicycle, a black one with a chrome handlebar, is missing. Cyril’s quest for a glimmer of happiness often has the allure of chasing a ghost. In a certain sense, Le Gamin au Vélo is Oliver Twist, Dardenne style.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p29/ForgotsoFatso/gamin1.jpg
When I was watching this, I was wondering why Cécile de France’s character – Samantha – took pity on that lonely child. No one in her direct surroundings understood her reasons for taking care of the kid, and perhaps she didn’t either. Less gifted film makers would have explained this in some sticky monologue, but the Dardennes don’t offer any verbal explanation for this. There is no need for it. The reason can be read on de France’s face in a brilliant scene where a desperate Cyril throws himself in her arms. On that crucial moment, it’s unambiguously and evidently clear that Samantha is filled with compassion and love, but was waiting for the right person to share it with.
And so, in making Le Gamin au Vélo, the Dardennes profile themselves a bit as unlikely propagandists of pure, selfless love. It will either take a powerhouse film or the unwillingness of the jury to keep the Dardeness from taking home a third Palme d’Or.
4+
It doesn’t happen very often that a positive vibe surrounds a Flemish film. In general, we’re a people who like to remain skeptic about films until we’ve actually seen them, especially when it concerns our “own” films. But rumour had it, even months before Rundskop (Bullhead is the English title) was released, that this could truly be something special. There was much ado about the fact that the lead actor, Matthias Schoenaerts, gained no less than 60 pounds of muscle and mastered a local accent for his portrayal of Jacky Vanmarsenille. And then there was the fact that the picture was selected for the film festival of Berlin, a first ever for a Flemish production. Add to that that this this film was mainly filmed in my own hometown and neighboring villages, and would be spoken in my very own dialect. Needless to say, the bar had been set on a high level, but would Rundskop and debutant director Michael R. Roskam be able to meet it?
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p29/ForgotsoFatso/rundskop.jpg
Schoenaerts portrays Jacky Vanmarsenille, a collosal figure who works at the farm of his parents, somewhere in the whereabouts of Sint-Truiden. To make his cattle fatter in quick fashion, he injects it with hormones. Through a corrupt vet that supplies him with hormones, he gets into contact with Marc De Kuyper, a western-Flemish meat trader who is involved in the murder of a federal agent. De Kuyper is being watched by the feds for quite some time and now Jacky also ends up on the list of murder suspects. More importantly even, a person in the entourage of De Kuyper, named Diederik Maes, knows Vanmarsenille from way back when they were still kids. He knows of a tragic event that occurred in Jacky’s childhood that looms over him to this very day.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p29/ForgotsoFatso/runds.jpg
At first glance, Rundskop appears to be an exposé on the hormone mafia in Belgium, but make no mistake: that entire mafia story is actually a background story serving as a sort of metaphor for the crisis that Jacky is going through. The film is in fact a character study of a severely frustrated human being who has been through something in his childhood that makes regular social intercourse with people nearly impossible. The pivotal moment in the film occurs about halfway through, when Jacky’s trauma is revealed in a long, impressively directed flashback. Before that sequence, you think you’re watching a crime drama with a tormented main character that has been through some rough patches in his life. In retrospect, you then realize that it was about Vanmarsenille’s inner demons all along and that the intrigue with De Kuyper and the federal police mainly serves to support the tragic tale, although it does add more meat (hmm…) to the story. In a certain sense, director Michael Roskam manages to give a twist to his film halfway through that puts everything in a new light, but doesn’t feel forced or cheap in any way. As a story telling technique, this whole set-up is nothing short of terrific, as Roskam profiles himself as an intelligent story teller who manages to keep you engaged all the way through.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p29/ForgotsoFatso/runds1.jpg
The actors are all-around solid. The standout in the lead, Matthias Schoenaerts, who turns in an impressive performance as the taciturn, tormented Jacky Vanmarsenille. His gestures, facial expression and body language are more important than what he says, as they are a perfect implication of his traumatized background. It has to be said that his mastery of the regional dialect is very good, but not without flaw. Still, these flaws can only be noticed by people from my hometown or neighboring villages, which is always going to be the case when someone is only practicing a language or dialect for a year, no matter how much effort one puts into it. Jeroen Perceval delivers a solid performance as Jacky’s childhood friend, Diederik Maes. He put a strong emotional intensity in his character that is very much visible, without being over the top.
You can see though that director Roskam struggled with the bleakness of his own creation. To create a few moments of comic relief, he decided to insert two Walloon garage keepers in the story who exchange verbal snaps at each other whilst trying to dump a stolen car and dealing with its aftermath. Those characters don’t really work and aren’t fitting at all considering the overall tone of the film. Luckily, their screen time in Rundskop is modest, so they don’t have that much of a negative effect on the film as a whole.
Still, Rundskop is one of the finest films that the Flemish part of Belgium has ever produced. Maiden director Michaël R. Roskam turns in an intense, brooding film that is both an intriguing crime story about the hormone mafia in Flanders and an emotionally-gripping tragedy.
4.5
Le Gamin au Vélo
This is an atypical Dardenne film. In fact, it’s the closest a Dardenne film has gotten to being mainstream. Especially in comparison with Rosetta or Le Fils, Le Gamin au Vélo is much more accessible. The camera work is less nervous, the tone is more light-hearted, the plot is more narrative and there is more lighting (might sound silly, but those familiar with Dardenne know this wasn’t the case in their previous outings). And for the first time ever, the Dardennes casted a bonafide superstar as one of the main actors, namely Cécile de France.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p29/ForgotsoFatso/gamin.png
Does this all mean that Belgium’s most famous directors have kneeled before King Commercialism and turned in a crowdpleaser? No, I wouldn’t go that far. This is still a realist drama set in rural Wallonia. Furthermore, the Dardennes don’t bypass the grim facts of life in Le Gamin au Vélo. The main character – the 12 year-old Cyril – gets a lot on his plate for his young age: his father dumped him in an orphanage and his favourite bicycle, a black one with a chrome handlebar, is missing. Cyril’s quest for a glimmer of happiness often has the allure of chasing a ghost. In a certain sense, Le Gamin au Vélo is Oliver Twist, Dardenne style.
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p29/ForgotsoFatso/gamin1.jpg
When I was watching this, I was wondering why Cécile de France’s character – Samantha – took pity on that lonely child. No one in her direct surroundings understood her reasons for taking care of the kid, and perhaps she didn’t either. Less gifted film makers would have explained this in some sticky monologue, but the Dardennes don’t offer any verbal explanation for this. There is no need for it. The reason can be read on de France’s face in a brilliant scene where a desperate Cyril throws himself in her arms. On that crucial moment, it’s unambiguously and evidently clear that Samantha is filled with compassion and love, but was waiting for the right person to share it with.
And so, in making Le Gamin au Vélo, the Dardennes profile themselves a bit as unlikely propagandists of pure, selfless love. It will either take a powerhouse film or the unwillingness of the jury to keep the Dardeness from taking home a third Palme d’Or.
4+