Belgica

With The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012), Felix van Groeningen, who extinguished cigarettes in our lungs, this time raises our pulse with Belgica (2016)... The film, which I had the opportunity to watch at the 35th Istanbul Film Festival in 2016, is a complete jukebox movie... (again)

In this production, which the director wrote inspired by his own life, "cafe belgica" tells the story of Belgium, which is open to everyone, including Moroccans, Turks, Africans, LGBTQ, etc. The film also narrates the perspective of Belgium in particular and the European Union in general towards "foreigners" in terms of the Moroccan security guards who are placed at the doors by chance and the increasing commercialization of entertainment, and it does not shy away from this issue.

In this film about a famous bar, the drugs turn up after about twenty minutes. A few minutes later, there's the rock and roll. And right after that, the sex. The holy trinity of youthful rebellion is very much present in 'Belgica', the new movie by Belgian film maker Felix Van Groeningen.

This film is heavily inspired by Van Groeningen's own life: his father was the owner of the famous bar 'Charlatan' in Ghent, which is the inspiration for the bar 'Belgica' in the film. The bar is owned by two brothers, who expand the rather modest café with a concert hall and a VIP-bar. But with the success of the bar come all sorts of problems. The two brothers drift apart, and in the end the bar becomes a burden and a source of conflict.

The film contains many scenes of heavy partying, drinking and dancing. But the story is about the relationship between the brothers, who are rather different in character. The youngest is business-minded and responsible, the oldest is a troublemaker who neglects his wife and child in order to enjoy the sex, drugs and rock and roll in the Belgica.

The problem is that this contrast between the two characters is a bit meager to carry the whole film. There are some side stories, mostly about girls, but on the whole the story is rather flimsy. This film is not a careful dissection of brotherhood, but a straightforward account of the rise and fall of a bar.

The cinematography is above average: the partying crowds are nicely filmed in varying styles. Sometimes in a warm glow, sometimes in cold and hard lighting. There's also a lot of nice music in the film. But on the whole, this film lacks the subtlety and originality of Van Groeningen's previous movie, 'The Broken Circle Breakdown'.

We get another musical endeavor from one of Belgium's finest contemporary directors Felix Van Groeningen, after his Oscar-nominated film 'The Broken Circle Breakdown' from 2012. However, instead of the artists behind the music, we take a closer look at those providing a venue.

Based on the true history of Ghent's famous bar Charlatan we move to the other side of St. Jacob's Church to Café Belgica (you'll recognize it as Afsnis): the children's dream of running a bar of two alienated brothers, with beautiful performances by Stef Aerts and Tom Vermeir, come true. Of course, these brothers aren't children anymore, and as their success grows, so do their dysfunctional reality beyond the dream.

'Belgica' is great, or at least the bar is. Rarely have exuberant parties and decadent behaviour been put to the big screen with such style and a sense of 'you had to have been there'. The camera flies around at the pace set by Soulwax in the middle of sweat, flirtation, dancing, yelling, and doing drugs. I don't think a better party music clip has not been produced since The Prodigy's "Smack My ***** Up". However, just like any great party, there's a painful hangover looming up ahead. Life outside the bar is not only boring for our characters but also for us viewers. Each subplot is dotted with forgetful two-dimensional characters; terrible acting performances (especially Charlotte Vandermeersch - Felix van Groeningen's wife no less); and unoriginal ideas. I wouldn't go as far as calling it a "style over substance" movie, but the substance that's there is almost unforgivably basic considering the original decor and set-up.

No, this movie sadly isn't up to the same standard as Van Groeningen's previous films have set. Whereas the film itself is something most people will quickly forget, the soundtrack for this movie will live on as a great party anthem. In that sense it did get me pumped for a good raunchy party, regardless of what kind of tiresome hangover follows afterwards.

While I haven't seen previous work from Belgian/Dutch filmmaker Felix van Groeningen, whose last film, 'The Broken Circle Breakdown', received an Oscar nomination, there is rich enough texture in his new film, 'Belgica', to truly marvel at the craft and storytelling. A festival programmer introduced this film, one of Sundance's opening night selections, with the following statement: "For the last few years, we have been trying to get the World Dramatic category as top-tier as our US Dramatic. This year, thanks in part to this film, I think we finally reached that."

The title comes from the bar in which the film takes place. Two brothers come together to expand what was previously a hole-in-the-wall bar into a full-on destination with a massive remodel. As their dream version of Belgica comes to fruition, so do added layers of conflict that arise with the massive growth: trouble with the new crowds, women, drugs, and differences in opinion on the bar's future. The standout is the photography, which utilizes a broad variety of motifs and themes to display the strife that the two brothers are experiencing. At the beginning when the bar is small, the film carries a red hue with intimacy and fun themes, and as the bar expands beyond their control the color schemes shift toward a harsh and cold blue. That may be the largest visual shift but throughout there are numerous deliberate lighting decisions made to subtly enhance the viewer's understanding of these characters. At the beginning working at Belgica seems like the best thing in the world, and as we go on we see that it comes with a lot of baggage and pain, paralleling a heavy night of partying and drinking.

The film feels a bit long at two hours, especially as the experiences get less jovial. A few of the side stories don't entirely pay off, and most of the bar characters don't have enough time to get fully realized. At the end of the day, this story is about two brothers in different stages of life figuring out how to handle it in the face of their own personal troubles. a very watchable story in that they are each so compelling and realized. No matter how frustrating some of their choices are, we want them to succeed and find what's best. It's this type of character development that lets the film fly.

The characters in Belgica are each so compelling and realized that no matter how frustrating some of their choices are, we want them to succeed. It's this type of character development that lets the film fly. As someone who loves locations as characters, the titular Belgica is, of course, a prominent character of its own- morphing and developing as the plot progresses just like any of the actor's characters. For the experience of vicariously owning and living at a bar, which includes both raging fun and slamming comedowns, 'Belgica' is a compelling piece that visually stands above the crowd.

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This movie is compressed und pure life. It's show's all facettes of the human condition in the area of midlife party people. The story of the two brothers with different problems is absutely plausible. The partys in the Cafe Belgica are a little bit hyperbolic and transfigured, but that's entertaiment.