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Reviews
Brugge, die stille (1981)
Brugge as a snoozetown.
Let's start positive. The costumes and set are solid. The feeling of emptiness due to the empty streets is portrayed well and gives the film a feeling of magical realism. The main character can be quite peculiar. The final scene is great symbolism.
That's about all i can muster for the positive side, because frankly all the rest is a one-note, unneededly long and dull mess. The main character meets a woman that looks exactly like his dead wife. He stalks her a little bit and they end up going on a date (because that's how it's done folks!). Then they walk.. and talk.. and talk.. and also walk. The main fellow is cold and abrupt. The woman he's with is there for no real reason. The movie felt like it simply had no reason to exist, nothing actually happens.
Normally i only place a review on films that have no review yet, but here i couldn't let those - in my eyes - actually insane 9/10 reviews go by unchecked. Consider this a much needed ying to their yang.
De Kollega's maken de brug! (1988)
Could have been better, could have been worse.
Let me start off by saying this movie was perfectly watchable. The actors and actresses do a solid job in this film. I haven't seen the series that this movie is from and i don't plan to.
Long story short, a group of workers are stuck in an office space on the fourth floor. No elevator down, no ladder. They now hold out until they find a way out or are rescued. There are some funny scenes, some shots which are actually quite nice and the typical foolishness you find in any film like this.
The film hurt itself however, by lacking in believability. Any film stretches realism one way or another, but i can't believe more people would hear there pleas for help as they shout from the window. This sometimes ruined the entire thing for me, which is unfortunate.
All in all it's decent, don't get me wrong. Just, alas, very by the books.
Mannen maken plannen (1993)
Positively strange and unique.
Two friends stumble upon eachother after losing sight of one another many years ago. One is now a writer, the other a painter. They get to talking and decide they will travel from Belgium to Paris, France together. They do this so they can think there, freely and without being weighed down by the regularity of daily life. Alot of interesting and at times bizarre moments happen throughout their journey, once i'd recommend seeing.
The movie has fragments where characters were talking, behind the scenes as it were, to the person filming them as if they're in a sort of documentary. This felt weird to me and mostly didn't add anything of worth to the film, except for some well-placed dialogue that wouldn't be possible without this filming method.
There are also other small parts that i didn't enjoy as much, an important one being the ending. I felt that it was rushed and uninteresting, almost a non-ending. This movie would have been better with around 20 minutes more footage, i'm sure of that.
All in all, unique dialogue and some fun and interesting moments in this quite unknown film. Heck, i found it by accident because it was an extra film placed on another dvd from a movie called "Sailors Don't Cry" by the same director. Funnily enough, i enjoyed this movie more than the one i've just mentioned. Weird how that works.
Sailors Don't Cry (1990)
Sailors don't cry, but the morals are to cry about.
In the first half of this movie i was thinking it might reach a seven or even an eight out of ten. But when the credits started rolling, i couldn't help being extremely disappointed. Quite frankly, the morals in this film are completely and utterly warped.
A sailor has the bed tango with a woman that owns a bar. When she turns out to be pregnant, the sailor says he can't raise a child and leaves. Years later, the woman now has a new man and the sailor comes back. The moment she sees the sailor, who abandoned her in her time of need, she basically can't wait to jump right back on the saddle with him. This, understandably, angers the new man in her life that has cared for her and her child.
Not only does this make no real sense, suddenly the child that has been cared for by the new man, his only father figure he ever had, doesn't care about the new man anymore and wants to be with the sailor he's never even met and abandoned him to go back out to sea.
The new man has moments of rage outbursts because of this which, to me, makes sense. This sailor who was never there suddenly swoops in and when he does you're instantly the weak link that needs to be removed by all parties. It makes zero sense whatsoever and the entire movie was destroyed by it.
There are more logically wrong errors this film makes, but that would delve too much into spoiler territory, so i won't bother.
What could have been a very solid film turned out to be a skewed mess with no morals to speak of. It made me wonder my sanity by the end. Why would i still give it a five? Because i enjoyed the first two thirds of the movie and Josse de Pauw was great in this film.
Verbrande brug (1975)
Low stakes and personal tale.
An old Flemish film about a man named Charel that works in construction and also owns and lives in a café with his father, mother, daughter and girlfriend/fiancee. He quickly gets fired from his construction job however, due to his bad eyesight. This however is never really brought up again after the fact.
The yearly carnival is setting up shop in 'Verbrande Brug' which is the name of this place and movie, meaning Burned Bridge. This brings back some familiar faces for Charel aswell as the drama that is connected with these faces, namely the previous boyfriend/husband of his new girlfriend and this man his new fling. The film centers around the interactions between these characters aswell as some others, leading up to a solid conclusion.
Jan Decleir plays an interesting lead, one that i quite enjoyed to see. His character is short-tempered, fragile and quite a pauper of a man. Not a role we're used to see him in.
Solid film, especially for its age.
Pallieter (1976)
A candid and unexpectedly solid film.
When the description on the dvd box of this film blessed my field of vision in a second hand store not long ago, it got my attention. A gentleman and his lover give themselves to the occult, but it goes sour when his lover takes her own life. He then sees this as a moment to change his life completely, living a life of nature and life loving and joyful bliss. It is an older Flemish film and as a man that is trying to catch up on all these hidden gems from my own part of the globe, it interested me.
I thought this would be a darker and somewhat tedious film, but how wrong i was. The first scene we get to see is the body of the lover floating in the river, which might signal to us the viewer that we're in for quite a gritty film, however, beyond this point it's chin up and quite go lucky at almost all times. This to me is symbolic for the main character turning his life around at that point in the film.
The film is filled with a style that is recognisable in other older Flemish films aswell, which i enjoy. There is humour, original and interesting scenery, solid acting and, ofcourse, some female nudity. This last part has, so far, been a thing in every older Flemish movie i have seen to date. If this was for any other reason than to get more male viewers in seats, i might never know.
It did upset me that the occult part of his life was never shown, making me feel like there could've been done more, they could've went deeper. But this is, i suppose, a story about his new life, not his old one. All in all, i enjoyed this alot. It's a nice film to use as a reference in my writings. I'd recommend it to quite a few folks.
2DEZIT (2022)
A middle of the road kind of thing
New experiences, college clubs, add some drugs, a whole lot of nudity, sexual activities and not really award winning acting, and you have 2DEZIT.
A show about a couple of teens that share a student house together and live through their version of college life. Some story arcs were interesting and there were also some solid scenes/shots aswell as drama. Yet, when it ended and i saw the final credits, i couldn't help myself feeling dissapointed.
The acting does the job, but isn't astounding. Some situations just feel really unrealistic and over the top but that might be because i had quite a different college experience. It felt like an old white man was writing things that they think are happening currently in the lives of students.
All in all, watch it for the right reasons and you'll have a decent time.
Nollywood aan de Schelde (2008)
Nollywood in Antwerp, Belgium.
'Nollywood Abroad' is a shorter documentary, 48' minutes to be exact, about a man named John that wishes to become a big Nollywood film creator and starts by making films in Antwerp, Belgium. It is a story about how he films and prepares while at the same time giving the viewer a backstory about some parts of his life.
This documentary taught me quite a bit about Nollywood, how it is the third biggest film making scene for example. It also dabbles in the prostitution scene, showing us how alot of Nigerian women end up in Antwerp to become prostitutes. The film that John is filming in the documentary is about his life, how he got arrested and sent to prison for aiding a prostitute, presumably without his knowing that this was against the law.
The DVD has a lot of extra scenes which didn't end up in the documentary which is a shame as they could've really elevated it as a whole. From him returning from prison to more interesting people being interviewed. This is a head scratcher for me because i don't understand why they were left out in the first place. The pacing wouldn't have been disturbed by these extra shots in my opinion, and could've added some length to this enjoyable watch.
Had zero expectations, was very pleasantly surprised.
Man-Horse (2008)
Ultimately not quite compelling
Man-Horse is described on the box - which in all honesty i found in a thrift store - as a documentary about an old Lithuanian farmer named Jonas and his horse living together. It's an intimate story about a man's solitude and survival, about the relationship between a human and an animal. And so on.
Now, while there are certainly some interesting and visually appealing aspects in this 52' minutes long film, i was left quite underwhelmed. Quite simply it did not grasp me 90% of the time. The relationship between man and horse, which the title is based on, is barely noticable. He's even seen being more interested and kind to a frog that he finds climbing on top of a pile of mud while it's pouring rain from the heavens above.
The solitude is also not portrayed well, as this is a documentary and the person filming is next to the subject the entire time, creating the film i watched, i felt that the emotions lacked that genuine realism.
The farmer, Jonas, likes saying "your mother" alot of the time while talking to himself and the animals. This is also the only dialogue in the film as there is no explanatory voice or editing that could've made this documentary alot more engaging and interesting. It also ends quite abruptly, although that didn't surprise me a whole lot.
As a whole this documentary has some compelling visuals but besides that there is too much missing for me to recommend this one. I don't regret viewing it at all, but i was a bit disappointed.
Duts (2010)
A journey into the banal absurdity named 'Duts'
Duts follows the daily life of a special type of man named Walter Duts. Ever since his mother passed away he lives alone in his house. He's a good person but looks quite odd thanks to his large glasses aswell as his hair and beard.
Every day he has interactions with neighbors and visitors which border between the realms of banality and absurdity. Alot of humouristic, dirty events are happening aswell as some dramatic ones.
Filmography is solid. Quite interesting and smart shots are used which really elevate the feeling they're trying to portray, it makes you feel unsure of the reality of things at certain times.
I highly recommend this if you're into absurdism, banal every day life aswell as some dirty physical humour. Highly entertaining show.
Un joli petit coin (1980)
Absurd Homeless Gentlemen
This shorter film shows us two homeless men who happened to use the same place to spend the day. We then follow these two men through a whole plethora of unusual mannerisms. They do not utter a single word to one another which only strengthens the absurdism.
More than once i was reminded of 'Waiting for Godot'. The absurd gestures were very noticeable in both films and evoked the same feelings within me. Some chuckles are to be had for sure.
While interesting and certainly worth the watch, i do feel like i enjoyed most of his other short films like 'Rue de l'arbre unique' and L'autobus, aswell as his longest film 'Vivement ce soir' more. The silence between the two characters except for mouth noises made me feel disconnected at times.
Vivement ce soir (1985)
Daily life portrayed
An 83' minute film that focuses on what happens in between the opening and closing hour of a supermarket in Brussels in 1985. In all honesty it's quite a 'nothing' movie. This meaning that the movie leans more towards the mundane parts of life that otherwise get easily overlooked.
Patrick Van Antwerpen shows life and all the selfish and egocentric things our fellow members of society can and will do when being in a supermarket. I can truly appreciate and commend this shorter film for what it set out to do and, in my eyes, succeeded to do so. For a while I was thinking about giving it an 8 but in the end it leaned more towards a 7 for me. This film shows customers, employees, the relationship between both parties and all the ups and downs along the way.
Depending on what you're looking for, i would definitely recommend this one.