La mémoire du tueur

"The Memory of a Killer (De Zaak Alzheimer)" is a sophisticated synthesis of several genres into a stylish thriller. There's the opening shots of a steam engine, saluting European film noir contrasting with the sharp sunlight of corrupt Marseille; the Georges Simenon-like police investigation contemporized with gritty Brit mystery crimes and the hunky bantering buddy cops where one is a wild rule-breaker and his boss is an Eliot Ness straight arrow; the samurai code of honor; the Western where the old gunslinger takes on one last conflict, like "The Unforgiven" and already adapted to "Man on the Train (L'Homme du Train)"; a revenge showdown, like the recent "Four Brothers"; the memory stream of consciousness tricks of "Memento" and the snappy editing of Hong Kong crime thrillers like "Infernal Affairs (Wu jian dao)." And we even get a "The Sopranos"-like psychological profile of a hit man.

While director Erik Van Looy smoothly integrates all these elements together in adapting what must have been a complex novel, this is terrific, intelligent popular entertainment and only its subtitles keep it in limited release in the U.S. in art houses. Too bad a Hollywood adaptation is inevitable.

The film has an exciting dual structure of following the cops and the criminal as they get intertwined and chase each other, as each sorts out vengeance and some justice (with surprising collateral damage) ever higher up the responsibility ladder so that our sympathies, and theirs, are compromised. While we atypically don't see anything of the cops' personal lives (except with an amusing visual twist that it's the guy in the shower), we do get thrust into their quite believable bureaucratic and legal wranglings, which, while a bit confusing for an American audience, can be inferred to be similar to the jurisdictional conflicts between local police departments and the FBI that we've seen in plenty of movies and TV shows. The English subtitles seem pretty good at communicating the localisms, though some of the cultural conflict in Belgium between French and Flemish speakers is lost, particularly when it is significant which language is being spoken.

The twist that is given away in the original title of the film, translated as "The Alzheimer Affair," is that the highly intelligent and perceptive criminal, the charismatic Jan Decleir, realizes he is losing his memory, and sees his near future clearly in his hospitalized brother. We get inside his head as he is trying to out race not only the cops, his traitorous client and duplicitous boss, but himself, so that his taunt of "too slow" takes on a double meaning. His professionalism takes over even when the flashy cinematography indicates he doesn't quite remember what he's done.

While the body count is high, the violence is one on one and is not gratuitous. Each death ratchets up the tensions and complications as what at first seems street level crime has cynical political implications. Much of the film takes place in the dark, like "Collateral," and while there's a fair amount of sudden coming up from behind scares, that's usually the start of a suspenseful scene where cat and mouse decisions ricochet off in surprising ways.

The music very effectively supports the action, particularly when the story continues in an unexpected direction, though the choice of a Starsailor song over the credits didn't seem to fit.

It's a bit perplexing that "The Beat That My Heart Skipped (De Battre mon coeur s'est arrete)" is getting wider distribution (probably because it's a remake of an American film and has a young hunk at the center), when this is the better European crime thriller of the summer.

I bought this DVD without any reference, and for my surprise it is an excellent thriller. The theme about children prostitution is very well exposed, the beginning of the movie is very impressive, and the actress Lauren Van de Broeck that plays Bieke Cuypers really looks like a little Lolita. The story of an old hit man that has a code of honor and does not accept the job of killing a teenager, turning against the powerful men that hired him, is magnificently disclosed, in a right pace and with stunning performances. The emphatic character of Angelo Ledda is played by the unknown actor Jan Decleir, and I was really impressed with his acting. I have just seen in IMDb that "De Zaak Alzheimer" won seven prizes and three nominations in European Festivals and this movie certainly deserved these awards. The character of Baron Gustave De Haeck , living in a swamp of corruption and children prostitution, would certainly not adapt living in the jungle, as mentioned in the story. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Alzheimer Case"

Only a handful of Belgian movies haven't given me the feeling that they were produced locally and with a limited budget. This is one of them, not surprisingly because it was done with a larger budget than usual (but still quite small by Hollywood standards). I feel it has everything in place to rival any Hollywood production. The most important asset of the movie however is veteran actor Jan Decleir, a man who was already indirectly nominated a few times for the Oscars via the foreign movies section. Jan Decleir is brilliant and outclasses everyone else on the set (as he often does). The rest of the cast consists of good and not so good actors (some come from terrible Flemish soap series), but somehow everyone seems to rise above him/herself on this occasion and everyone deliver a decent performance. The photography, camera-work, everything's done quite professionally. The difference with many Hollywood action movies is the fact that the plot is quite good. The fact that the main character has Alzheimer's and that he has to use his ever shrinking mental capabilities to finish his quest, is an original twist. People will compare Alzheimer's to Memento, because of the main character's memory loss. But Memento was conceived to challenge viewers, to baffle them, to be perceived as intelligent and artistic. By contrast this movie is more down to Earth, more realistic and in the end simply something completely different. It's nothing more than an original cop-movie, good entertainment and certainly something I'd recommend, even to non Belgian or non-Dutch speaking viewers. Plans are underway for a Hollywood remake of this movie, so it must be other people have recognized its potential too. One word of caution though. Many people say the movie is a bit too long. That's a sentiment I share. At the end the plot loses a bit of its strength. But overall i'd label 'De zaak Alzheimer' a good movie.

If, like me, you don't know what country "Flemish cinema" refers to, then read on. Yeah, I'm one of those dimwits like Joey on Friends when they tell him Dutch people live in the Netherlands, and he says "no, that's where Peter Pan came from." Suffice it to say this was the first Belgian film I've ever seen, and I was really impressed. It's stylish, polished, has a lush musical score, and features a lot of actors who seem really human. Even the minor roles were well played.

I'm not usually a fan of crime thrillers, but this one drew me in with its interesting premise: a hero who's losing his memory. In that respect, reminded me of the excellent Tom Tykwer film "Winter Sleepers" (1997), except this film is driven by a faster, more action-oriented plot and pace.

There's a lot going on here. Just when you think it's over, a new drama comes into the mix, making it unpredictable until the end. The director effectively used a lot of suspense tricks which will make you say "aha, you got me!" For example (though this was not used in this movie), a cat might jump out at the perfect moment to give your heart a little leap. In hindsight it's silly, but you can't deny it works. So bear in mind, this is definitely a movie for people who enjoy being taken for a ride. In the same vein, I think the director intentionally uses some standard clichés, almost in a playful way. If you approach this movie with the idea of having a fun time, you won't be disappointed.

Final note: I think it helps to be a little familiar with Belgian culture, which I'm not. I could tell the characters switch languages between different variations of Dutch/Flemish, French, and snippets of English, and I think that's significant. Some of the settings are breathtaking, and I found myself saying "wow, that place is cool! I wonder where that is". In all, this is a film that Belgium can be very proud of, and I hope to see more like it in the future.

Having just watched Liam Neeson as the assassin with Alzheimer's and a conscince, I took a shot at the film upon it was based. The orignal is similar as far as the basic story goes but has a few differences, including a vastly different ending.

Jan Declair is excellent as the killer although Liam has more of a screen presence in the American movie.

The hitman is hired to off a series of bad men involved in a prostitution ring. Some of those involved are at the highest levels of society and corruption is rampant within the legal system.

The killer makes a decision not to kill a twelve year-old girl he has ben paid to hit.

The action is almost constant and I recommend both films.