Hellegat (1980)
6/10
An OK Flemish movie
23 January 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Not great, but OK. No clean Dutch, which is a frequent authenticity killer in Flemish movies. Hellegat manages to grasp the boredom and the daily grind of working without being boring.

Set in the brick region around the river Rupel, Hellegat tells the story of Sam, a promising goal keeper that starts working at a brick making factory. He gets to now an older co-worker Louis, with a football history of his own. They become friends and their similarities make Sam think about his life and the way it is developing.

The football scenes are rather clumsy and so are the supporters, but the cafeteria is real (even noticed my own football team in the ranking on the wall). Jos Verbist is good as Sam and Paul S'Jongers is very believable as a co-worker on the verge of retirement.

Adding a few environmentalist touches here and there, Hellegat is a lament on the indifference of factory owners, the routine of factory life and a rather depressing view on life in general.
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