Schneider vs. Bax

This wild and dark Dutch film is not for everyone, but for those viewers who like all kinds of strange twists and surprises in their movies, this one could well be to your liking.

Tom Dewispalaere stars as Schneider, a contract killer who reluctantly takes a job on his birthday, as he's assured that the "hit" will be quick and simple, on a writer living in an isolated lakeside bungalow. Alex van Warmerdan, who also wrote and directed the film, co-stars as Bax the supposed intended victim.

However, I probably don't have to tell you that things will definitely not go according to plan, beginning with Bax's daughter Francisca (Maria Kraakman) showing up at the bungalow. From that point on, they'll be a whole series of bizarre happenings, that just get darker and darker as the movie progressed. To be aware,they'll be lots of drug usage on screen, a couple of scenes of nudity, an attempted sexual molestation, and, of course, lots of violence as you'd expect here.

All in all, if this type of black humor is done well, as I thought this one certainly was, it can be a real treat. Although some of the plot elements didn't make complete sense and I wasn't thrilled with the ending, the overall scope of the film made it really enjoyable for me.

This could be a Van Warmerdam for beginners. It has the typical Van Warmerdam weird style, but the story still kind of makes sense. After his quite dark (but great) movie Borgman, this one is a bit more lighthearted.

Two quite capable killers / fathers are commissioned to take each other out for unclear reasons. There are whoever many people walking in the way and they would like to get the job done without to much collateral damage. In a way many of the characters in this film are more like 'real people' than in the average film. Many, but not all, its still a Van Warmerdam..

I really liked it.

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.

A scene nearing the third act - no spoilers - revolves around a character (played by the writer and director) insisting there are crackers in the cabinet only to realize in fact there are no crackers in the cabinet. That pretty much sums up the movie for me. It is incredibly slow and predictable after the first build-up and plays out very systematically until the end. I was a huge fan of Borgman but this movie feels like a step backwards, like borgman made for children but messed up so it's technically for adults. But take out the guns and violence and drug references and change everyone to kids with paintball guns having a fun Saturday in the fields then wow what a movie. But we end up instead with something that comes across as incredibly pretentious, thinking itself of a higher standard than a randomized cat & mouse game movie popular in the 1980s but absolutely nothing new here. That's my opinion. I did however enjoy some of the conversations between Bax and the daughter. The drug references were also very clever.

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?