Alabama Monroe

There are few films which depict raw emotions as powerfully as 'The Broken Circle Breakdown'. Set in Belgium, and somewhat reminiscent of 'Betty Blue', it tells of the love affair between Didier and Elise - a bluegrass musician and a tattoo artist. The story begins with the couple attending to their young daughter's needs in a cancer ward as she battles for her life against the disease. Flashback sequences portray the couple's initial meeting, Elise's incorporation into Didier's band as a vocalist, the mad passion of their early romance and the arrival of daughter Maybelle in their lives.

Back at the hospital seven years later, the child endures the toxic effects of chemotherapy, her health alternately improving and deteriorating, while the parents accompany her on this agonizing roller-coaster ride. Fracture lines appear in the couple's deep bond as atheist Didier rails against a god that could have inflicted such a cruel destiny upon the girl, while Elise struggles to hold onto hope. Somehow their epic odyssey into the deepest regions of pain is neither pessimistic nor depressing, and their story communicates profound insights about the need for love, forgiveness and understanding in extreme circumstances. By contrast, it makes most Hollywood productions look like trite insults to human intelligence. Perhaps they are - and maybe audiences should look elsewhere for authentic artistic expression. This film suggests Belgian cinema might be somewhere to start the search.

I saw this movie yesterday, and must say that it's the first time that I'm really really impressed by a Belgian movie. If I had to compare it with another movie, I would say Into the Wild. Both movies are about passion, beauty and sadness. Whereas ItW has a lot more focus on beauty and passion (the sadness didn't really reach me), this one also has a lot of beauty (never knew I liked bluegrass music so much) and passion, but the sadness... oh the sadness... Half the movie you will be trying to hold in your tears. So don't expect a big story with plot twists and murder weapons; expect a story about real people, that puts your feet on the ground, and that shows you how little it would take for you yourself to end up like this. Now excuse me while I go and look for some Bill Monroe music...

Oh and did I mention it's a foreign film? I simply cannot say how much I loved this movie. It's the story of Didier, a bluegrass singer, and Elise, a tattoo artist who fall in love. The film chronicles their lives over a period of approximately 7 years. The highs and the lows. The joy and the pain.

The movie captures your attention from go, with the great music and locks you in for the journey with their fast moving romance and the family tragedy that they go through and how they both deal with it. I was moved to tears on more than one occasion with this movie.

The story goes back and forth in time with a subtlety that would impress Tarantino or Nolan. The directing is inspired and the cinematography fits the mood of the movie. You forget your reading subtitles quickly and immerse yourself in their odyssey. This is definitely one of the best movies of the year and it is a shame that it is only up for Best foreign film. It could give the big dogs a run for their money this year, if it had a chance.

Powerful depiction of a dissimilar couple who faces softest and hardest moments of life. The little effect that leaves-by everyday when one's heart don't gets what is needed is counted on in the viewers' mind, culminating up to the extreme levels which require a faintest of pokes to fell down.

Everything in this movie is a piece of art. It will make you laugh as well as sob if you're alone. For drama lovers, it's a masterpiece; just pick it if you liked Paris, Texas or The English Patient, Bonnie and Clyde or Wild at Heart..

An Oscar deserving film, cleverly edited, acted and directed.

This is definitely one of those films that is best seen with as little prior knowledge as possible. I saw The Broken Circle Breakdown at a small cinema in Plymouth with only a vague idea that it had something to do with bluegrass music, of which I knew hardly anything. The music was actually very good but the film is far from a story about Belgian musicians playing American music. In fact, this is a fairly simple tale and, although told in a interesting way, there isn't an awful lot going on. However, what this delightful film manages to do brilliantly is throw up some big questions on topics such as love, life & belief that really get you thinking.

The past-present-future style works well to gradually unfold the details of what is happening. I found that this added very much to the tension and emotion of the film, not unlike Incendies (2010) which, although very different in subject matter, had a similar feel. Broken Circle is not as 'heavy' as Incendies and even has several smile-worthy moments to balance out the intensity.

I can see why some people might be upset by certain anti-religious aspects of the film but I thinks it's healthy for beliefs to be challenged. Similarly, some people seem to have been annoyed by the time-line jumping about but I think this actually works to great effect, especially if you don't know anything about the story beforehand. Overall, I would highly recommend Broken Circle; it's refreshing to see something genuinely different that generates real feelings for the characters and stays with you for more than ten minutes after the ending! 8/10