In "Beautiful Men," Belgian director Nicolas Keppens offers a fascinating and moving take on the Van Goethem brothers' search for a new look, but also for an internal transformation. In his first foray into stop-motion animation, Keppens crafts a touching and mature narrative about masculinity, insecurities, and the fear of aging-all packed into 19 minutes of pure visual poetry. The story follows brothers Steven, Bart, and Koen as they travel to Istanbul, Turkey, for hair transplants. But what starts as a simple aesthetic transformation turns into a profound emotional journey about the complexities of adulthood.
The film's greatest strength is how it tackles heavy themes with lightness, using animation as a tool to amplify the emotional experience. The stop-motion animation, with its incredibly detailed puppets, has an immersive quality that instantly builds empathy for the characters. The attention to detail is impressive-everything from the tiny pockets on the pants, the minuscule hats and glasses, to the unusual front nudity is crafted with such artisanal perfection that the puppets feel like real people. As we watch the brothers wrestle with their insecurities and frustrations, we're not just watching puppets move; we're observing complex human beings with palpable fears and desires.
Keppens also shows exceptional skill in creating rich, atmospheric environments. The depiction of Istanbul is impressively accurate. Every setting-from the cold, impersonal hotel where the brothers stay to the warm, ornate Turkish baths-is meticulously designed, with a nearly claustrophobic sense of confinement. The city, with its tight public and private spaces, seems to reflect the characters' own journey: a desire for change in a world that, at its core, remains the same. The Turkish city, gradually enveloped by a growing fog, serves as a metaphor for the brothers' emotional confusion and the opacity of their inner feelings. This dark, melancholic atmosphere deepens the exploration of themes like loneliness, aging, and the relentless pursuit of aesthetic perfection.
The emotional tone of the film is both painful and lightened by a melancholic humor, especially in one of the film's most impactful revelations: the final result of the hair transplant. The shock of the brothers' new look after the surgery is the "shock of the year," and more than just a visual joke, it's a sharp commentary on the unrealistic expectations society places on men. This twist, which could have been a comedic moment, ends up serving as a powerful metaphor for the desperate efforts to change the outside as a way of dealing with internal insecurities.
Though the film focuses on a seemingly simple narrative, its depth becomes clear as it addresses the existential void and unresolved issues of the characters. The absence of dialogue contributes to this introspective and supportive tone, while the music and sound design do the heavy lifting of expressing what words cannot. This brings to mind the melancholy of Charlie Kaufman's "Anomalisa," which also explored the internal dilemmas of a man in existential crisis.
Taken as a whole, "Beautiful Men" is a work of art that goes beyond a simple social critique. It's a sensitive examination of masculinity, the pressure to conform to beauty standards, and the eternal search for meaning in a world that often seems indifferent to inner struggles. With stunning animation, detailed settings, and an emotionally charged narrative, Keppens shows that animation is not just for kids-it's a powerful art form capable of tackling deeply human themes in a unique and touching way.
