Wij

Having no knowledge of this film and seemingly stumbling upon it, "Wij" was quite different in comparison's to the typical Hollywood films we see today.

The story is quite depressing and the characters for the most part are unlikeable (mainly the lead male along with the two lead females). What made very little sense is how there were 8 of them yet none of them had any sense to stop doing what they were doing. Of course something tragic was bound to occur.

The storytelling dealing with four of the main eight characters retelling their version of what occurred was quite well done. These four stories seemingly range from tamest to most disturbing in order- Part 1 relatively tame, while Part 4 is the most disturbing and vile.

This isn't a film for the faint hearted. The director definitely goes out all, pushing boundaries, such as more excessive nudity than needed (including brief unsimulated sex scenes). The acting was surprisingly convincing and good.

Without revealing anything, the end revelation or twist told by one of the characters in the finale was quite disappointing (Part 4). We watched the film up to that point only to find out, that was what really occurred. As some of the other top reviews has stated, this end payoff isn't exactly satisfactory.

Kids, A Better Tomorrow, Alpha Dog...we've seen it before...a group of teenagers who are living lives outside of their parents' knowledge, discovering themselves, indulging in sexual behavior and criminal activity. This Belgian/Dutch spin on it wasn't bad.

The cast was very talented-although I didn't find any character likeable-but, they did their job. Still these teens are insensitive jerks, with barely no remorse for their actions, and how the "big dilemma" was handled at the end didn't make me like them any more. The ending is...interesting(in its open-ended glory). I'm assuming the controversial novel this film is based on is spectacular though.

(I will say without giving anything away: one of the main characters may have had childhood trauma that caused some of his actions in the end-but I'll say no more.)

Basically this movie is fine; if it's on Netflix check it out, but definitely don't break your neck looking for it. You've probably seen stuff like this before-this is just the Dutch version.

Rene Eller's adaptation of a shocking novel by Elvis Peeters has all the hallmarks of its Vice co-producers sub-Mondo, faux docudrama approach. This makes for a queasy mix of wrong-headed moralising and vapid sensationalism that seems cribbed from REQUIEM FOR A DREAM.

The film has a slightly Rashomon-structure, as four of the film's gang of privileged delinquents tell their differing versions of events. The latter version is from the ringleader Thomas (played with real sleazy noxiousness by Aime Claeys), and pulls in the film's most difficult narrative strand, namely that of the perverted mayor's sex scandal. This whole section is problematically rendered, as the film seems to hint at the idea that child-sex scandals may not be about the exploitation of innocents. There is a damaging disconnect in the film between what is being shown, the way it is being shown and the wider context within which these things could be said to operate. None of this would have really been so much of an issue if Eller didn't so devotedly follow the Vice handbook and attempt to blur boundaries between factual and fictional forms of narrative address.

What is undeniable is that Eller has been able to extract strong performances from his young cast, made up mainly of non-professionals. It is a shame then, that the material to which their great efforts have been put to the service of, is so trivially worked out. A little less fake meta-textuality and this may have been something more like Stephen Frears' BLOODY KIDS (1980).

I didn't really get the point of "Wij". Was it just to pruriently show the sex lives of its teenage protagonists? Perhaps. But the movie makes no attempt at eroticism, and the full frontal nudity takes us by surprise because there's no build up to it. It appears to be trying to show us how everyday this behaviour is for its characters, and at that I guess it makes its point. But what is the wider point?

Eight teenagers - four boys and four girls - engage in increasingly depraved sexual behaviour during a hot summer in Belgium. The girls, particularly, seem to have no regard to their rights to their own bodies, flashing their bushes at oncoming cars (and causing a pile-up in the process) and playing games in which foreign items are inserted you-know-where. At one stage, somebody pretends to listen to earbuds that have their cord inserted into someone else's vagina.

The movie also features a death-by-insertion that may have to be seen to be believed.

So, that's the movie. The characters remain totally undifferentiated throughout. They never emerge with personalities or motivations. You don't even know who you're looking at half the time.

This material is the kind of thing US director Larry Clarke makes, and comparing it to his material reveals its limitations ever more. Clarke would have chosen a gritty photographic approach to the material, and may also have based the movie off a true story, to give it much needed weight.

As is, "Wij" is pretty forgettable.

Eight teens - four guys and four girls - are the best of friends. One summer, out of boredom they experiment with all manner of new means to entertain themselves. This degenerates into some extreme behaviour and will lead to tragedy.

Intriguing movie, told in a way that keeps you engaged and wondering what happened. By telling the story from the perspective of several of the teens, one at a time, you get fed enough information to get a piece of the picture, but not enough for the whole picture. This creates a great sense of mystery and makes you stick around for more.

However, when everything comes together and the secret is revealed, it is a bit disappointing. The revelation is rather flat and what develops from there feels a touch implausible. Is quite topical and thought-provoking though.