De helaasheid der dingen

I attended the North American Premiere of "The Misfortunates" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. Director Felix van Groeningen introduced the film with a few caveats about the drunkenness and debauchery to come. He was correct. The film is filled with humor and pathos, presenting some painfully brutal characterizations of life in Belgium for a 13-year-old boy living in a house of alcoholics. Equal parts comedy and tragedy, "The Misfortunates" can be painful to watch at times but the payoff is worth it. Shot cinema verité style, the artful use of color and texture combined with copious amounts of bawdy humor make this film an audience favorite.

... you can always count on tears, blood, placenta and spilt beer.

Having said this, this film uses all of them to good effect. This brutal confrontation with the Flanders of Pieter Brueghel and Jacques Brel, is not without its pathetic and touching moments. It reminded me a lot of Quebec's "C.R.A.Z.Y" in its enthusiasms for its subject but with, of course, much more squalor.

The actors are all convincing and attractive in their own way and the direction is transparent and unobtrusive. The viewer should be warned that the opus is generously peppered with scenes of fornication, sometimes public, pissing, sometimes public, defecation, sometimes public, vomiting, sometimes public, public male nudity and transvestism, not to mention lots and lots of binge drinking.

I liked the anecdote in the "making of" documentary telling how one of the father's fake moustaches was fashioned from the male actors' and crew's pubic hair. It seemed fitting somehow.

When you think of Belgium, many things might pop to your mind, but certainly not this harsh comedy-drama about the dysfunction that tops all disfunctions. The Strobbes, working (although almost nobody is working),class family consists of 4 loutish sons, stoic mother and the 13-year old son of one of the brothers, with more potential than all of them together. And there is almost nothing else but excessive drinking, and all the things that come with it. Cruelty, violence, hangover and such a waste of both lives and space. This is harsh picture of a family, that doesn't know how else to connect but through getting smashed. The scene that stands out is incredibly hard to watch. When the boys father comes from rehab for a weekend, healthier and stronger, his brothers slowly draw him back to the pit he tried to escape. Strange and disturbing movie, but I have a feeling one that you don't forget soon.

What is it about Belgian Directors? They manage to make films which are about working-class people, full of hard knocks and everyday misery... and yet, not only is there a joie de vivre between the lines, but sweetness and fun. The Misfortunates reminds me very much of the kind of films by the Frères Dardenne...La Promesse, Le Fils... sort of like Ken Loach, but without the total grimness of his vision.

The story is told from the point of view of a young man remembering his time as a thirteen-year-old... at the point where he is taken away from his family because of the degrading environment. I'm not going to go into a description of the film... simply to say that in all the films mentioned above, what shines out especially are the incredibly realistic performances...you totally forget that these are actors, and you learn something about the way "the other half lives", which may horrify you or disgust you, but somewhere in all that, their humanity wins you over. I find this to be a particularly Belgian trait...I can't think of any serious French films that have this capacity for realism, grittiness and humanity. And the ability to make you like something about all the characters, no matter how objectionable they might be for the most part. And of course, these days, there is nothing comparable coming from America, where everything is formulaic. (The closest I've seen to this kind of realism recently in American film is Winters Bone... which comes close but is too manufactured to work on a deeper level.)

The Misfortunates is not to be missed.

Known in France as La Merditude des choses, this is a film I've been hunting for ages and finally tracked down on a chilly summer day.

It's the story of a kid grown up, recounting his childhood in a small Belgian village with a dysfunctional family, sometimes filled with hope and joy, more often steeped in social misery and violence.

It's the kind of film that pulls a smile out of you, only to snatch it back before long. There's a bit of Strip-tease or Groland in this romanticized yet raw portrayal of broken, rough-around-the-edges characters who grapple with love and alcoholism, meltdowns and solidarity, all caught in their vices while trying to survive a monotony that's slowly killing them.

You laugh, sometimes. There are scenes so bizarre-like a nude bike race, a betting shop session with a kid that ends in a conga line with two dwarf barmaids, or a booze-fueled Tour de France with deliberately dizzying camera work. But every one of these moments hides something deeply, achingly sad.

It's as if Koen Mortier's Skunk softened up just enough to hook up with an old Kervern and Délépine flick. The story centers on this man who somehow escaped his circumstances and narrates his origins with a mix of disgust and nostalgia, aware that he was built on shaky foundations, yet equally clear-eyed about his present, which he views with almost the same lens. That realization might be the saddest part of the whole thing. The sordid, seen through innocent, childlike eyes, may not be worse than the banality of adulthood. Both chip away at the soul, but the nostalgia of the former makes it easier to hold onto.

It's a depressing film with beautiful things inside. Alcoholism is depicted raw and intense, the most brotherly moments are also the most fleeting, reflecting a life nobody really chose but has to live anyway, elevated by a literary narration that adds depth and insight to this mess-a child's view of the underside of a medal he never even got to win.

Superbly acted, smartly paced, striking a balance between darkness and levity, text and visuals, it's a fantastic surprise that'll stick with me for a while. Plus, it taught me some raunchy Dutch drinking songs I can't wait to belt out at three sheets to the wind on my next trip to Utrecht.