Close

Although I was only 12 at the time, I remember that "Close" caused a bit of controversy and a minor scandal here in the native country of Belgium. The reason was that lead-actress Katia Alens does several nude scenes, but she got crowned as Miss Belgium only two years before the film. Most beauty contest winners from that era (late 80s - early 90s) went for a career as TV-hostess or fashion model, but Alens wanted to strip off her clothes in B-movies. Good for her, I don't see what the problem is. Anyway, the controverse went over quickly, probably because "Close" is a lousy movie and because Alens can't act at all. Nice body, though...

"Close" is a mess of a film. Writer/director Paul Collet begins with a solid and potentially tense idea of a law-student becoming obsessed with a woman after he witnessed how she gets arrested by immigration service officers at the airport. He ditches his studies, friends and long-time girlfriend in favor of stalking the woman in the red-light district where she works and even marries her to obtain the Belgian nationality. But she - Angelica - comes with a backpack full of issues, as she turns out a fugitive guerilla warrior from Southern America.

What could have been a fair attempt to make our very own Belgium erotic thriller (a contemporary popular genre) ends up being a dull and confusing charade with absurd elements (doppelgangers, deliberate HIV-spreading, ...), pitiable stereotypes (like South American dictators) and preposterous dialogs. Oh, and Mrs. Alens, she wisely decided not to pursue an acting career after this.

In the Airport of Brussels, the future lawyer Michael (Anouchka Balsing) says farewell to his parents. While in the toilet, he glances a mysterious woman, Angelica (Katia Alens), who asks for help to him while she is being arrested by the immigration department. Michael becomes obsessed with Angelica and finds her in a peep show. He marries her to give Belgium citizenship to her and after a short time, he realizes that she is a member of a resistance of an undefined country in South America. "Close" could be called "How to Waste What Might Be an Excellent Movie'. The beginning of the story is very intriguing, recalling a film-noir with the narration in off. However, the development of the story is horrible and treats South America countries as if they were in the dictatorship regime of the 70's. The lack of respect with the sovereignty of the South America countries and the prejudice against South America is so great that the director / writer does not define in which country the story happens. I regret, because the film has had a great potential to be a good movie, but in the end is nothing but a forgettable crap. The IMDb rating (4.2) with 21 votes translates the impression of the few viewers. Anyway, my vote is five because of the potential of the story. The VHS released in Brasil is another shame: there are many mistakes in spelling in Portuguese on the cover, and many dialogs in Dutch have no subtitles in the movie. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Close"