Directed by: Felix Van Groeningen.
Written by: Carl Joose and Felix Van Groeningen based on the play by Johan Heldenbergh and Mieke Dobbels.
Starring: Veerle Baetens (Elise Vandevelde), Johan Heldenbergh (Didier Bontinck), Nell Cattrysse (Maybelle), Geert Van Rampelberg (William), Nils De Caster (Jock), Robbie Cleiren (Jimmy), Bert Huysentruyt (Jef), Jan Bijvoet (Koen), Blanka Heirman (Denise).
The
Broken Circle Breakdown is a movie that seems like it should be an overly
sentimental, hackneyed tearjerker, and yet somehow manages not to be. This is a
movie after all that hinges on a child with cancer – and I cannot think of
another example of a film that treats a child with cancer with the kind of
respect that this film does. It doesn’t beat you over the head with its misery,
although it doesn’t soft peddle it either. Besides, there is a lot more going
on in The Broken Circle Breakdown than just a child with cancer – not least of
which is the wonderful bluegrass music that runs through the entire film. You’d
probably be right to skip a Hollywood version of the same story told here, but
this Belgian film is beautifully well done.
The
story cycles backs and forth in time, gradually moving further in out in all
directions. It tells the story of Didier (Johan Heldenbergh), a bluegrass
musician, and his relationship and eventual marriage to Elise (Veerle Baetens),
a tattoo artist, who uses her body as a walking advertisement for her work, as
well as a chronicle of her love life. The two begin dating, and eventually,
Didier draws Elise into his bluegrass band as a co-lead vocalist. They have a
beautiful daughter – Maybelle (Nell Cattrysse) – and life seems good, until of
course, Maybelle is diagnosed with cancer, and they have to go through a series
of painful, ultimately futile, procedures.
This
sounds like a heavy slog of a film, yet while the going isn’t easy, the film is
more than just a parade of misery. The structure helps quite a bit – being able
to move back and forth in time allows director Felix Van Groeningen not to pile
all the cancer sequences on top of each other. Instead, he is able to show the
connection slowly building between Didier and Elise – both an on-stage
chemistry, and an undeniable sexual chemistry as well. Telling the story in
this way does give even these early scenes a melancholy feel – we know where
this is all leading to – but it’s one that works for the movie. The music also
grows progressively darker as the movie progresses – these are not just musical
interludes for the sake of musical interludes, but rather they advance the
story, and illuminate the characters – perhaps nowhere more so than when the
pair sing “If I Needed You”, which is a heartbreaking moment, as the answer
becomes clear.
The
movie makes a few missteps in its later stages. Up until the final act, the
film had been subtly and effectively showing the difference between how Didier
and Elise react when the inevitable comes – her wanting more and more to have
faith – to believe in something beyond – and him being a more and more
committed atheist. When the film was subtle about these changes, and the
couple’s drifting apart, it was effective – when it brings it to the forefront
– and has the characters start shouting at each other, and others, their
effectiveness wanes considerably.
Still,
even when The Broken Circle Breakdown makes some missteps, two elements keep it
watchable – the first being the music, and the second being the performances.
Performances in a movie like this are tricky, as you have to show the character
evolving over such a long period of time, but only have a few moments to do so
– both Heldenbergh and especially Baetens ground the movie at all times - she
has the advantage of not being as overwritten as Didier is at times, and having
the more heartbreaking finale, and she makes the most of it. And special
mention should be made of little Nell Cattrysse as Maybelle – I’m never quite
sure with child actors if the director or the children themselves should get
the most credit – and I don’t think it really matters – but Cattrysse avoids
most of the mawkish pitfalls that many child actors fall into when they are
playing someone sick. She remains resolutely a child – a scared one, but one
who loves her mommy and daddy, and just wants everything to be okay. Her
performance is all the more heartbreaking because it doesn’t give us the BIG
moments we expect her to get.
The
Broken Circle Breakdown is a movie, like John Carney’s Once, that uses music to
expand our understanding of the characters and the plot – and deepen our
relationship with them. This is not an easy thing to do – many musicals fail
completely, which is why many music numbers in films feel feel unnecessary.
Here, they are essential. It’s a difficult thing to pull off – but The Broken
Circle Breakdown does so beautifully.
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