Sympathetic attempt by Belgian dEUS front man Tom Barman in his debut film about the intertwined lives of ten people during a summer day in Antwerp, his beloved home town. For Dutch people watching this on DVD, you might wanna watch this with subtitles (which I did recently), because most of the dialog is in 'plat Antwerps'.
Tom Barman is a man who likes to leave all odds open. This is the way he likes to play records when he's dj-ing, his latest passion. Not long ago, I attended a party where he was spinning some records. His choice of music is interesting, but hardly fitting for the dance-floor. After three songs I was bored out of my mind, and so was the audience. There was no built-up, no climax and no connection and the dance-floor stayed empty. I've had a bit of a dEUS overdose in the past ten years, but there's no denying it was one of the most interesting music formations to come out of Belgium in a long time. In 2002, I went to a concert of theirs, which ended in a complete anti-climax (they ended with three ballads). Again, Tom Barman seemed oblivious to the fact the audience was snoozing for the last half hour.
Basically, this film offers a similar experience. Lots of ideas, well-meant, attractively shot, but it's little more than a loose collection of ideas. Some pointed out, this is the ultimate reflection of the many loose ends of the main characters' lives. Too bad the characters we're watching are quite obnoxious.
However, the cinematography is pretty good, as well as the soundtrack, and the final party scene is impressively shot and choreographed. But in the end, the main thing that stuck, was that David Bowie probably made his best records in the eighties.
I know.
Camera Obscura --- 6/10
