Zaman

This early 80's Belgian flick is occasionally shown on the television here but by no means it represents our nation's cinema industry...or at least I hope it doesn't! "Zaman" is an insignificant and very basic story about Antwerp cops in their daily battle against petty-crime in the docks and harbor while they stand by helplessly to see the really big fish getting away with everything through corruption and bribery. The movie is given an extra dramatic tone since the lead character's family situation isn't very cheerful, neither. The titular character is a forty-something workaholic who regularly visits prostitutes. His wife hates him, his daughter left the parental house to work in a topless bar and his new partner thinks Zaman an emotionless bastard. For Belgians, this is a mildly entertaining film because for every character they engaged a famous actor, but don't expect exciting action-sequences or intelligent dialogues. The funny thing is the ending, though. It looks like this was meant to be a pilot for a TV-series that never came. The film ends with the main character walking up to his biggest opponent (a powerful gangster) for a man-to-man confrontation and a message appears on the screen saying: "The End…of a police career". So, I figure Zaman would be fired from the police corps after this and start his own detective agency or something like that. Anyway, since the ending is as open as they can get, this movie is just pointless and not at all worth watching.

This is an excellent film. It tells the typical story of a non-conformist city-( Antwerp)-police-detective worn out by the city and his job and having to team up with a young flash new partner from the province.Of course he has to have trouble in his private life as well... A cliché, yes, but so was Maigret, and you never tire of him. The beauty of this work lies in the sincerity of the story and its characters. The actors in the film ( with the notable exception of Herbert Flack who is a spectacular ham) are all perfectly credible and speak and act as any real person would. Marc Jansens' performance as the title character is spot on and his understated reading of the role make him a maverick in Belgian movies.

Zaman may not be a Palme d'Or winner but it's a great little film and its influence can be traced in many of Belgian 'tranche-de vie' type TV series and cinema film on cops and crime. (some of the crooks depicted in the film are none too loosely based on real life gangsters).