'Waste Land' is presented as a crime thriller. But in this film, solving the crime is secondary to the psychological development of the lead character, Belgian police detective Leo. He has a stormy relationship with his girlfriend. When she tells him she is pregnant, his world is turned upside down because deep down he is afraid to become a father.
While he tries to solve the killing of a boy who was involved in smuggling valuable statues from Congo, his private life seems to go completely off the rails. He insults his girlfriend, starts an affair with the sexy sister of the murdered boy, cuts himself repeatedly with a knife, moves away from his comfortable house to go live in a hotel, starts believing in black magic and visits drug parties. 'You need help', advises a close colleague when they meet in a bar.
The film is strong on atmosphere, showing Brussels as an urban jungle where everyone struggles for survival. The photography is beautiful, especially the way the Congolese subculture in Brussels is shown. But the story didn't convince me. How can someone with clear psychological problems be responsible for a murder investigation? And where exactly do Leo's problems come from? Why doesn't he seek help, as is suggested? All the same, the director does a nice job mixing Leo's downfall with the search for the killer, while at the same time showing how Belgium tries to cope with its colonial past. Sometimes, the film made me think about Werner Herzog's 'Bad Lieutenant - Port of Call New Orleans', in which Nicolas Cage plays a similar role.
The film is spoken in two languages, Dutch and French. In a way, this is very authentic because Brussels is a bilingual city. But the constant mixing of the two languages, even in a conversation between two people, is confusing and not very realistic. Usually, a conversation is held in either French or Dutch, not the two together. Moreover, lead actor Jeremy Renier doesn't speak Dutch very well, so that doesn't help.
Overall, the film has quite a few strong points. It's just that I couldn't really identify with Leo's lead part, and his problems were hammered home a bit too strongly.
