Premiered as the opening film of Filmfestival Ostend 2022, I had the opportunity to watch Nowhere at the Films by the Sea Festival in Vlissingen with the participation of Peter Monsaert, the director.
Peter Monsaert is working on the same theme again in his third feature: human connections and seperations. But compared to his previous films Offline (2012) and Flemish Heaven (2016), Nowhere has a more optimistic outlook and has this time a promising ending. We know that the theme of human connections is very important for Monsaert and it's quite visible that he masters this theme in his each new film.
André, the main character welcomes us into Nowhere with his disheveled appearance and clothes. At first, we realize that he leads an isolated, hopeless and purposeless life in a hut attached to a construction site. This preferred isolation, the reason of which we are yet unaware, is disturbed by an "outsider" intervention. Conflict ensues when he catches young Thierry at the construction site in an attempt to steal. Although this outsider seems to be a complete opposite, André in fact has a lot in common with him: family trauma, past reckoning and the anguish of their souls. As determined by fate rather than being just a coincidence, the encounter of these two restless but fragile men turns into a male solidarity with the common features they discover over time; the webs begin to be knit and they head for a journey that will heal both.
One thing that Monsaert is very good at is that he portrays the depth of characters and their mood so well. With the great acting of the leading actors are added up to this, voila, here is a good psychological drama. Koen De Bouw is one of the well-known actors of Belgium and his companion Tambwe Kabati Noa made his debut only at the age of 11 (currently 18?). According to the director, Tabwe was a bit introvert at the beginning of the shootings, but he displayed then a great acting with the effect of the great chemistry he and Koen caught as time passed.
Another element is the framing and camera angles preferred; the frame in frames in which the characters are imprisoned and their reflections through the glass are a great complement, the handheld camera choice is very appropriate. Close up frame and shaky camera movements accompany the moods of the characters very well. However, the excessive use of close up in almost every scene makes the audience slaps to the back of the characters. It's ok to be close to the character, we're already watching a mood drama, but being stuck there all the time does not go beyond than just leaving a dizzy feeling at the audience I'm afraid.
Another weak point of the film is the repetitive explaining of the feelings and matters that an attentive audience can already catch without. Also, I can't say it's good or bad, but just as an observation, Monsaert is displaying only the side he knows well; the focus is mainly on men, while women appear in secondary /complementary roles.
As a result, despite the budgetary issues they faced and all the covid restrictions they were exposed to during the shooting, Monsaert leaves the audience with a successful drama worth watching.
