Les Ardennes

What a terrific crime drama from Belgium. I the line of BULLHEAD released four years ago, you deal here with a pure product of what the Flemish film industry can give at its best. Gritty, tragic, moving, brutal film that begins as a drama for the first half before resuming as a pure dark crime tale. Depressing, not for the squeamish, I warn you. An unforgettable experience. Astounding performances pulled by a flawless cast. The story of two brothers, one from the can, and the other desperately trying to go in the right way.

The director deserves to be closely watched at in the future.

A pure jewel, a masterpiece.

Dave and Kenneth are brothers and are on the wrong side of the law. They attempt a robbery and it all goes to hell in a hand cart, but Dave manages to escape leaving his brother to take the rap – and he does.

Move on four years and Kenneth is out and he wants to make up for lost time. He also cant accept that his brother has had the temerity to grow up and start acting like an adult. He also wants back with his ex- girlfriend but she has other ideas and he involvement with both brothers becomes pivotal to how things spiral.

Now this is gritty but it is a lot of psychological pain before the actual real pain kicks in. The acting is great and the cinematography very well done and it is in Flemish, but this is in the Antwerp dialect which has upset a few observers as it is a bit on the 'common' side. However it also adds to the realism of the piece – all in all though a very commendable film indeed.

This is another unblemished Belgian crime film production, wonderfully shot and with excellent performances from the -small in number- stellar cast. Kevin Jansenns ("Vermist", "Revenge") plays the role of Kenny a young drug-addicted thug and robber who gets out of prison after four years of incarceration. Jeroen Perceval ("Bullhead", "Borgman") is Danny, Kenny's elder brother who gets infatuated with his baby brother's girlfriend, the young waitress and heroin addict Sylvie (portrayed impeccably by Veerle Baetens). Danny is reluctant to talk to Kenny about his relationship as he seems to live on a world of his own where things remained still with the passage of time. Kenny believes he still can win Sylvie's heart even though she is obviously not interested anymore. The story will take a more suspenseful turn in its second half where the two brother's relationship will be tested under hard circumstances. This movie also casts Jan Bijvoet whose great performance we admired in the disturbing "Borgman" (2013).

I will not reveal anything more about the plot as it would spoil a strong cinematic experience that proves that Belgian productions remain on the top of today's Continental crime film productions. This is a sorrowful story with a tragic ending where a shocking final plot twist overturns everything that we, as the audience, thought and believed about the characters. "The Ardennes" is a slow-burning masterpiece, it is the first full-length film directed by Robin Pront ("The Flemish Bandits", "Injury Time") and a movie that you will never forget as it succeeds in getting across to the viewer its gloomy mood and character. The two brothers story arc is moving as well as tragic and we root for them until the ending, never mind their evident flaws.

This is a movie that I can recommend without a hint of reservation to all Euro-Crime fanatics out there, and especially those who are keen on Dutch and Belgian productions. Enjoy!

"Kenny" (Kevin Janssens) and brother "Dave" (Jeroen Perceval) are involved in an abortive burglary that sees the latter escape leaving the former to spend the next four years in jail. When he is released, the siblings are reunited with their mother and for a while, bygones seem to be bygones with "Kenny" even seeming to forgive his ex "Sylvie" (Veerle Baetens) who now has a child and who has also taken up a job pole-dancing for a Moroccan night-club owner. It's round about now that we start to see some cracks appear in the brotherly relationship. "Kenny" finds out who the father of the child is, loses his temper, then things are exacerbated by some thugs who visit their workplace and one of those is accidentally killed. Unsurprisingly, they get fired and then have to take the corpse to the remote rural home of ex-cellmate "Stef" (Jan Bijvoet) and his pal "Joyce" (Sam Louwyck). Ostensibly they are just going to get shot of the body, but their relationship only gets worse and "Dave" begins to wonder if he can, actually, trust his brother. Robin Pront does try to mix up the narrative a bit, it's gritty and dark at times and I thought Janssens made a decent fist of his "Kenny" character. The rest of the film, though, isn't really up to much. The dialogue is strained and a bit contrived, the direction style staccato and it really falls to the eccentricities of "Stef" and "Joyce" to breath a little quirkiness into what is otherwise all just a bit of a dreary denouement. I didn't hate it, but I doubt I'd watch it again.

What is it with films from Flanders that they seemingly MUST feature either farmers or marginal people in order to be successful? Prior to 1995 it seems like movies from here only revolved on farmer families battling against poverty and various other types of misery, whereas after 1995 the farmers were replaced by marginal people, but they were still battling against poverty and various other types of misery. Our most famous cinematic export product, the Oscar-nominated "Rundskop" (aka "Bullhead") even features a combination of both! Marginal farmers, hooray! But the term marginal is far too light to describe the lead characters in "The Ardennes", though. They're the equivalent of trailer trash!

"The Ardennes" almost feels untouchable here in Flanders, Belgium. You're almost not allowed to say something negative about it. Ever since the release in 2015 - and even before already - this film has been incredibly popular and benefiting from a tremendous media buzz. Everybody loves it, audiences as well as critics, and I honestly wonder why it's so well-received and successful. Admittedly it's a competent film and much better than the overrated "Rundskop" or the pretentious but substantially void "De Helaasheid der Dingen" (aka "The Misfortunates"), but "The Ardennes" nevertheless remains a simplistic and clichéd tale with predictable twists and protagonists you can't possibly sympathize with. Especially the first half feels long, tedious and overly familiar. Fans of the film will undoubtedly call it a harrowing and confronting portrait of a suffering family in the lower middle class of Belgian society, but the simple truth is that it's a form of 'disaster tourism'. You're looking at trailer trash people and you're glad you're not like them. These people eat Flemish stew on Christmas Eve, listen to loud 90s house music in their ugly car, behave and talk like racists and participate in miserable drug-rehabilitation group sessions. There aren't any underlying messages or lessons to be drawn. Personally I'm 100% fine with that, but then please stop pretending it's a relevant film that shows how difficult it is to re-integrate into society after a prison sentence or how to get your life back on track after a severe drug addiction. "The Ardennes" doesn't do that, and I don't think writers Robin Pront and Jeroen Perceval ever intended their script to become a social requiem. In fact, the story can be described best as: the trailer trash version of Cain and Abel. Two brothers, jealousy and uncontrollable anger resulting in violence.

Please don't get me wrong; "The Ardennes" honestly isn't a bad film, but it simply never lives up to the praise and compliments it is receiving. That's hardly the film's own fault. The second half, primarily set in the titular Ardennes, is more exciting and introduces a few fantastically eccentric supportive characters, like this hideous drag queen Joyce (Sam Louwyck) and the psychotic ex-con Stef (Jan Bijvoet). I swear, those two deserve a spin-off film of their own! The climax isn't too difficult to foretell, especially if you're familiar with mainstream thrillers, but it still comes as a minor shock even if you know what is going to happen. Lead actor Kevin Janssens deserves extra respect for the performance he gives. I read that the role was originally reserved for Matthias Schoenaerts (pretty much the only Flemish actor to have success in Hollywood). Taking over from him surely couldn't have been an easy task, but Janssens truly gives away a stellar performance. I didn't care much for him as an actor before, but he underwent a phenomenal metamorphosis here. The same can be said for Robin Pront. The film was supposed to be directed by Michael Roskam ("Bullhead") at first, but eventually Pront directed the scenario that he co-wrote himself. Kudos to him, because in his debut feature he certainly demonstrations copious amounts of talent, style, vision and surefootedness.

Oh, and one last thing: I love the soundtrack! I don't care that it gets linked to criminals, drug-abusers and lowlifes; - Belgian house/dance music from the 1990s is awesome. Search for songs like "The House of House", "The First Rebirth" and "Rigor Mortis/ Flesh & Bones" on YouTube and concur with me!