Ben X

I saw this movie yesterday at a movie theater in Leuven. Nic Balthazar came to this theater to answer some questions afterwards. This movie gets to you from the beginning till the end. Nic Balthazar created a jewel that will shine for long. He makes me longing for more. Very nice work! I'm not willing to tell something about the plot of the movie, because you can never catch the atmosphere this movie has. I am very glad that I speak Dutch, because I am afraid that a lot of the nice lyrics that are spoken in this movie can not be translated as brilliant as spoken... Although I don't think this will be a large problem, this movie has it all, action, romance... It does go straight to the heart. I still don't understand how a debut can be this close to perfection. It is "must see" for everyone!

I thought that Ben X was an excellent film to watch. Ben is very different. He has Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism, which makes him very different from other people. He plays his favourite online computer game Archlord all of the time, trying hard to train himself for the real world that he lives in. The hard world of a school is for him a daily kind of hell. As the horror of being a daily subject to bullying starts to get worse, Ben works out a plan. Then a girl called Scarlite comes into his life, the girl that he has met in his on-line game. I found this film to be an excellent movie, that includes a lot a senses of bullying, and violence towards Ben from the other children in his class. Recommended..

This film goes very deeply into the problems that Children with the form of Autism know as Aspergers syndrome. The film uses glimpses of what seems to be a future interview with many of the characters to build a suspenseful atmosphere thru the whole film. The use of flashbacks thru out the film to explain Bens early childhood are extremely effective in conveying the listlessness that is felt by parents and children as they try and find out why their child is different. I will leave it to others to provide a plot summery but I will tell you something of the experience of the screening at the Montreal World Film Festival. Both the director Nic Balthazar and the actor who played Ben, Greg Timmermans addressed the crowd that night before the beginning of the film. Nic Balthazar spoke to the crowd in fluent French and English himself with no translator, leading to a booming applause as he talked of his joy at being at the festival and of working with Greg on his first film. Greg Timmermans then went ahead and spoke to us in passable French and English and talked of how nervous he was on that night. This is Greg Timmermans first film and he preformed beyond beautifully, bring subtlety to his role rarely seen by seasoned actors let alone a brand new face. This is not to diminish the other actors and actresses all of whom preformed extraordinary well. I hope that this film recedes world wide distribution for it is one of the most pointed comments I've ever seen or heard of on the treatment that children with these types of differences receive from classmates, teachers, and parents. Though I say this the teachers while sometimes seeming exasperated and at a loss for what to do, were never cruel, intentionally or otherwise. This film ranked as the best film that I was able to see in my short time at the festival. Lastly I would like to say that as the credits began to roll the audience roared forth with applause that did not cease completely for a full 3-5 minutes.

I left this film with my tears proudly displayed on my cheeks.

Good luck in competition to the cast and crew of BenX. May you see wide spread distribution and happy lives. You have touched my heart.

I watched this movie at the Festival in Montréal. I enjoyed it a lot. Some people really hated it. It's great to see a movie like this coming from Europe. The soundtrack was excellent and the acting by Greg Timmermans was superb. The Movie asks many important questions about our time and what it means to be caught in two "realities".

The director knows how to pull off an intense portrayal of a life between reality and fantasy. The visual effects were a bit unconvincing at times but I accepted that because the storyline kept me interested.

The movie won the big prize in Montréal, so I'll look out for this director in the future.

7 out of 10

This movie really has it all: it touches the audience in a way that is never transparent but always smart and subtle. A beautiful story that leaves you breathless. It gives a clear image about how people really react to other persons who don't fit in, without trying to impress the audience with unrealistic dialogues. Especially the ending gives a very important message to all of us. I really think that the only goal of Nic Balthazar honestly was: to give that message, nothing less, nothing more. One of the best Belgian movies I have seen, although I'm afraid that through translation it will lose much of its charm, just because the lines are so perfect sometimes!