La peau de Bax

I was not particularly interested in Schneider vs. Bax, although I am quite a Van Warmerdam-fan – especially after his magnificent movie, Borgman. I thought it would be a dark, sombre, shoot 'm up, where man's barbarous, grimy soul would be shown. But the movie proved me wrong. It is a far more comic and playful film than I suspected. Yes, it is a shoot 'm up: a hunt between two hit man. But it is as far removed from ordinary man hunt movie as can be. The grim, dark humor of Van Warmerdam, the beautiful northern Dutch water landscape and the intricate script makes it a great movie experience. Schneider vs. Bax is the next great Van Warmerdam film.

After 'Abel', 'de Noordelingen ', 'kleine Teun', 'de jurk' and many others, this is another example of Alex' special, wonderful qay of storytelling. He has this very special way of filming in a hyper-realistic fimstyle, with an ironic sense of humor. You have to understand 'the language'. The situations are absurd, the human relations are often distorted, the humor is wry. I love it! Who needs music, when a movie is this brilliant?

Alex Van Warmerdam is a director with a very distinguishable cinematographic style. In most of his films, everything is just a little bit out of the ordinary, but it's hard to say why exactly. 'Schneider vs Bax' is no exception.

Nevertheless, I think this film is not as good as most of his other movies. This is a crime thriller about contract killers, and in such a film even Van Warmerdam needs a script that's tight and logical. Unfortunately, it is neither. There are strange, inexplicable events, the story swerves in all directions, and there is not really a lot of suspense.

You could argue that Van Warmerdam's unique, slightly bizarre style of film making compensates for these flaws. For some this might be the case, for me it wasn't. The unique Van Warmerdam chemistry of some of his other films didn't work as well in this one.

Still, there is much to enjoy. The phlegmatic way the killers behave, as if what they do is just as ordinary as baking a cake or driving a truck, is a nice feature. There is also the Dutch landscape of treeless lakes and flat marshes, with one wooden house in which much of the action takes place.

But overall, I think this film could have been a lot better with a script in which every action is functional and every person behaves logical. The acting was also a bit uneven. I liked Tom Dewispelaere as Schneider, but Van Warmerdam himself as Bax was less convincing. Maria Kraakman played a nice part as Bax's depressive daughter who seems to be a damsel in distress, but at the end enjoys pulling the trigger as much as the contract killers.

Schneider and Bax have a lot in common. Each is a hit man. They are both good at what they do. They also work for the same employer. Each, amazingly, has a job to do at the same time and on the same day. Also, both are targets. Each is unknowingly tasked with killing the other. This is where the similarities end however. Schneider and Bax have opposite styles, personalities and lives. Schneider is a family man, or at least he appears to be. He lives in the city and is methodical, devious and relentless in going about business. Bax, on the other hand, is carefree and lighthearted. This relaxed attitude is aided considerably by the heavy doses of drugs and alcohol he consumes. With his nightmare of a girlfriend and family, he probably needs them. As Schneider closes in on Bax the latter is visited, in turn, by his daughter, father and girlfriend, each of whom is unstable and volatile.

This thrilling dark comedy is full of twists and turns as the hit men are constantly dealing with complications they did not expect. Alex van Warmerdam also directed Borgman, which is as zany as it is creepy (I loved it). Like Borgman, Schneider vs. Bax is also very different from traditional Hollywood slop, and van Warmerdam adds much more humor to the mix this time. The acting, directing, images and storyline are all good. The film falters only in that not enough money and talent was provided in order to move the film to the next level. Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015.

This Dutch director has always made me think of the Coen Brothers atmosphere. I have watched nearly all of his films, a very unique experiment. You can not foresee any of those crazy and riveting tales. Quentin Dupieux could also be compared with this director. It is very hard to describe without spoiling the whole story. There are many of those films from Northern Europe, you just have to be lucky to get them. I belong to those who were that lucky. Just enjoy. I can't imagine you don't.