What happens when a boy and girl meet from different cultures?
The excitement, the thrill, the joy of falling in LOVEz and spending life together.
The dreamZ - the future plans etc.
Years go by - the babies are born, the work and life eats up the relationship
The evil of time - deteriorates and suffocates everything we stood for.
This movie is about two lovers - Mounir (Tahir Rahim) a Morrocan immigrant living in Belgium and a Belgian girl Murielie (Emilie Dequence) falling in LOVEz and supported by the God-father of Mounir - Dr. Andre (Niels Arestrup) from being a catalyst in forming their LOVE-bond to blessing the couple to being with them in their honeymoon, to giving them shelter, money, food and even supporting their children.
Then what could go wrong?
Murielie wanted freedom as a couple to live alone - and enjoy life, away from Dr.Andre - who uses kindness as blackmail and trap the young couple. Murielie feels suffocated and whenever she discusses with Mounir he always takes sides of Dr.Andre. Thus slowly and slowly Murielie feels isolated, disintegrated, and depressed becomes a routine housewives, bearing four beautiful children - caged and imprisoned within the burden of goodness and kindness shown by Dr.Andre.
What results in the end is so horrific and chilling that one goes aghast at the outcome.
It leaves the viewers devastated to say the least - viewing a claustrophobic tragedy destined to happen.
This superb movie is based on a true story.
It is a GREAT psychological drama of how slowly un-noticed the depression sets in through "subtle" everyday interaction of routine life and daily household chores. How a person feels isolated, neglected in a relationship, and above all how PATRIARCHY destroys completely a spirited young woman with dreams
The Director Joachim Lafosse has dealt with this very important subject with apt without taking sides and/ or blaming anyone, and left many questions unanswered.
Though in real life - when this incident happened - the society surely wanted a villain and thus was punished in the verdict.
The movie rests solely on the shoulders of Émilie Dequenne - who portrays Murielie so tenderly, graphically - showcasing her angst and silent sufferings with looks and stares. She literally makes an emphatical audience jump off their seat to extend a hand of help and hug her, give her support. It made me an instant life-long fan of Emilie Dequenne.
The remaining cast of Mounir and Dr.Andre too have played their part brilliantly. The director Joachim has extracted marvelous acting from little children.
At points it becomes unbearable to watch the movie and wants us to cry to intervene and turn the clock back.
But the real incident is history and can't be changed.
GREAT work of cinema that I will surely remember for years
I would go with 7.75 out of 10 for this journey of joy to tragic despair.
