The Ardennes (D’ardennen)

Described as a breath of fresh air by the Belgium film industry following two ‘serious’ short films, one about the drug scene in Antwerp and another about football hooliganism Robin Pront has directed and written his first feature film.  Set in Antwerp The Ardennes (2015) is a chilling piece of cinema. The movie is a study of man’s brutality seen through the actions of two brothers and their associates.

After a robbery that went wrong Kenny (Kevin Jassens) receives a prison sentence but his brother Dave (Jeroen Perceval) was never caught. Released from prison after serving four years Kenny finds that things in the outside world have changed. Dave has kept to the straight and narrow, found him self a permanent job cleaning cars and wants to settle down with his girlfriend Sylvie (Veerle Baetens) who is pregnant with their first child. But the problem is Sylvie was originally Kenny’s girlfriend before he went into prison and he wants to pick up where he left off but has no idea about her relationship with his brother. Kenny is a jealous man who solves problems with violence, a man that can snap without notice, and he suspects that Sylvie is having an affair with someone but has no idea who. Both Dave and Sylvie are scared to tell the ultraviolent brother about their plans for the future.

 

Kevin Jassens and Veele Baetens.

The film gradually turns darker and bloodier following a chain of events that underlines how Kenny’s uncontrollable temper and paranoia drives his ‘insanity’ into even more ultra violent conclusions which affects everyone with in his sphere.  This Cain and Abel story packs a really powerful punch and brings to mind another dynamically violent Belgium movie debut Michael Roskams Rundskop (Bullhead) 2011 which also featured Jeroen Perceval.  A great movie, well-photographed and produced but might not appeal to everyone as the violence can be quite gross at times.

The Ones Below.

It was David Farr, playwright and RSC Associated Director, who adapted John le Carre novel of the same name for the TV miniseries The Night Manager something I’m sure you enjoying on BBC TV on a Sunday evening. Farr has now directed his first feature film and what a grand job he's made of it.

The Ones Below (2015) reveals how one couples tragedy becomes another couple’s nightmare. An affluent London couple Kate (French born Clemence Poesy) and Justin (Stephan Campbell Moore) living in a first floor flat in an Islington terraced town house are expecting their first child and are delighted to discover that another couple Teresa (Finish actress Laura Birn) and her husband Jon (David Morrissey) who are also expecting their first child are moving into the basement flat that had remained empty since the death of its elderly tenant. It would seem that the two couples are ideally suited to become great friends having so much in common but the dynamics change when a terrible accident occurs. 

This Polanski style psychological thriller is certainly an impressive debut for Farr. He has produced a polished suspense movie and a gripping example of a modern psychological drama that brings to mind the work of the great Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski. Following its showing at the Glasgow Film Festival it had its UK general release in March 2016 and its USA release in May 2016..

Suburra.

This was for me, at least, the best film I had the pleasure of see at Glasgow Film Festival 2016, in fact it was probably the best film I have seen this year. It’s not often that you come out from a screening and want to go straight back in and watch the same movie again. Could I have just witnessed a masterpiece in Italian filmmaking? Beautifully made, intelligently scripted and magnificently acted each of the characters making the story totally believable. Suburra (2015) includes corrupt politics, drug taking and dealing, extreme violence, the Catholic Church and sex.

 

Corrupt politicians.... 

Set in 2011 this fast paced thriller is steeped in the crime and corruption found at the heart of modern Rome and deals with the connection between organised crime and politics. At the heart of the story is politician Filippo Magradi (Pierfrancesco Favino who played Marco Polo’s father in the recent TV miniseries of that name) who thinks nothing of heading straight from a parliamentary debate to a night of sex with two prostitutes, one of them underage. When the latter dies of an overdose, a chain of events are set in motion that will see Magradi drawn into a net woven by Samurai (Claudio Amendola), a former right-wing terrorist turned organized crime boss who looks more like a bank manager than the ‘families’ representative. The corruption between the various parties involved in the movie centers around the coastal town of Ostia, a piece of down-market real-estate that the Italian Parlamento is voting to turn into an Italian Los Vegas – or not. If the vote is positive the interested parties know there a lot of money to be made.  

 

....organised crime....

....sex and drugs.

This neo-noir is directed by Stefano Sollima who was responsible for directing the TV series Romanzo Criminale (2010) and Gomorrah (2014) and is based on a novel by Carlo Bonini and Giancarlo De Cataldo. The movies brilliant atmosphere draws you in and its pace keeps you there. The electronic soundtrack is by French duo M83 and really adds to the movies ambiance. The movie was financed by Netflix and RAI and is due for a cinematic release in the UK in May 2016. As you may have gathered I cannot heap enough praise on this movie and I would encourage you to make a real effort to see it – you won’t be disappointed.

Home Care ( Domaci pece).

Czech filmmaker Slavek Horak début feature film, which he wrote and acts in, was inspired by stories of his own mother’s life. Home Care (2015) was the Czech entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 88th Academy Awards and stars Alena Mihulova as Viasta, South Moravia's very own Mother Teresa, a dedicated home care nurse and tireless domestic goddess, a woman who puts every body first even frogs! Lada (Bolek Polivka) Viasta husband is like many men virtually useless and has not kissed his wife since their wedding day and baring in mind that they have a grownup daughter who is about to be married that could be construed a very long time! Then one rainy evening whilst getting an unsolicited lift home on the back of Speedy's motor bike she is involved in an accident that not only changed her physical well being but also her outlook on life when she realises that she must now become reliant on help from all these that she has spent most of her life helping.

 

Viasta the dedicated home care nurse....

....and tireless domestic goddess.

On the surface this is an emotional journey involving a sad hard-pressed woman who owns very little, other than her self-respect. But it's not a sad film, yes we see the struggle that Viasta has to endure just to get through her working day, yes we see how impossible it is for members of her close family to demonstrate the love this woman deserves. Even allowing for all this emotional hardship she tackles life with a great sense of humour, and it's the underlying bittersweet humour that carries this highly recommended look at Czech working class life.  

Couple in a Hole.

Deep in the middle of a French forest an apparently normal and affluent middle class couple live under the base of a fallen tree. John forages for food trying to keep both him and his wife Karen alive, both shun modern conveniences and other people. Why are they living in these squalid circumstances, what has driven them to live this feral existence?

 

Kate Dickie as Karen....

The film stars Scottish actors Paul Higgins as John with Kate Dickie, who along with director and writer Tom Geens were in attendance at the screening of the movie at this years Glasgow Film Festival to take part in a Q&A, playing the part of Karen. The other two actors involved in this four hander are Jerome Kircher as Andre and Corinne Masiero who plays his wife Celine.

 

....withPaul Higgins as her husband John. 

Tom Geens told us that the strange premise for Couple in a Hole (2015) was built up over a long period of time. Kate Dickie explained that she was drawn to the part of Karen because she felt it was a great love story - albeit different from your standard Mills and Boon idea of romance - where a husband looks after his mentally ill wife whose trauma has been brought on by the death of a child in tragic circumstances. Karen has forced John to live this animal type existence with the couple living live out what can only be described as  ‘nature documentary’ with you the audience being invited to observe their strange world. Karen can't live in the real world without her son but John begins to realise that he can't go on living like this and he starts to forge a relationship with a local farmer.

 

Kate and Director Tom Geens at the GFF2016.

This is an intense film and as Kate explained it was a physically difficult acting experience including having to loose a lot of weight and to go without food during the shoot which went on for a longer period than expected because Paul Higgins broke his ankle during the early part of the filming. Geens has drawn great performances from his actors especially Dickie and Higgins with the film maintaining its own distinct look and sound. My only small grumble is the slightly intrusive soundtrack that rears up from time to time. This film certainly deserved a general release allowing it to be enjoyed by a wider audience than these found on the festival circuit.