User reviews

At the very moment his father is walking towards the courtroom to be judged in what is called THE Belgian corruption scandal of the last decade, director Willem Wallyn sends an actor along with him in the role of himself. This is the start of a remarkable debut long play movie about the media as a powerful tool to make or destroy peoples lives. The trial itself, which took place in December 1998, is further only the setting of the story in which Willem Wallyn (played by Peter Van Den Begin) is taking revenge for being threatened by a television journalist (played by Herbert Flack) who wants to get to the so-called "juicy" details of his fathers involvement in the corruption scandal. Although this could be the start of a rather boring Hollywood story about good and bad, it is not the case. We get a quite balanced picture of the two main characters : a television journalist who is squeezed between "good manners" and his own weakness for fame; and the son, a lawyer, who justifies his behavior by seeming to defend the honor of this father but who is at the same time very anxious about his personal success. The story is further designed in a very grasping way: little explaining but lively dialogues and a lot of good use of visual and audible effects which create the right aggressive and grim atmosphere of the world of media and lawyers. Congratulations !

This is the film debut of Willem Wallyn, a lawyer turned film maker and son of one of those indicted and subsequently convicted in the Agusta (helicopter) corruption trial which brought down among others Willy Claes, former secretary-general of NATO. The trial marks a sea change in Belgian politics and got an immense amount of media coverage. In one particular scene, the film mixes fiction and reality in a very powerful way, namely when actor Peter Van den Begin, who plays Willem Wallyn, accompanies his 'father' Luc up the stairs of the Palais de Justice in Brussels. Everybody will have seen the TV pictures at the time and will remember them vividly.

The film centers around the son, Willem Wallyn, an ambitious young lawyer tormented by the media coverage of the corruption scandal involving his father. Enraged by a personal attack live on air, he decides to abduct a star journalist after which a game of physical and mental torture starts. This is not what one would call an original concept for a film.

The film is flawed in many other ways, as one one expect in a debut, particularly from someone who went to law instead of film school. The story defies credibility on crucial points - a star journalist just does not disappear from the face of the earth for a couple of few weeks. The camera work is uninspired. There is far too much use of slow motion, which is cheap way to add drama. The film misses fluency due to bad and probably hasty editing. Some of the acting is downright awful. This is to be forgiven of Luc Wallyn, who plays himself, but not of some of the others. However, Peter Van den Begin, who plays the protagonist Willem Wallyn, is tremendous. He surely deserves better directors and better scripts. Herbert Flack too gives a strong performance, as one expect from him.

In short, a flawed debut that is principally of interest to those well acquainted with recent Belgian politics. However, fans of Eddy Wally, and I know they exist all around the globe, cannot afford to miss this film.

This movie is about the events that happen around the Agusta trails that brought down important political figures in Belgium and one in Nato. Even though those facts are real, the movie itself is fiction. I do believe you have to be a Belgian living in Flanders to truly appreciate this movie. Not only are there true facts, there are true people who play themselves differently than in real life as well. Like the singer of the rock band "de mens" who appears to be one of the friends of the lead character. The acting of the actors is great for given Belgian standards and very typical for Belgian acting, except for the "one time actors" who play themselves. Knowing who they really are makes you forget it. Strangely this movie is the viewpoint of the abducted journalist who makes the protagonist look like a complete asshole with no respect for others but himself but still i liked him. It also makes you wonder what really happened.