Olympics 2012 Film Part 3 - Brazil, Greece, Spain, Belgium & Czechoslovakia

Belgium €“ 139 Medals

Belgian cinema has often been overshadowed by its more dominant geographical neighbours; France and Germany. A slow burner of sorts, Belgium's film industry suffered from Nazi rule during WWII. With ideologies being forced upon their output, many films suffered from the severe amount of censorship required from their authoritarian leaders. After WWII had ended Belgium, much like many other European countries, struggled for many years to acquire a dominant cinematic identity. Up until recently it had never really made a massive impression on a global scale, in fact it wasn€™t until the late 80s and early 90s that Belgium€™s domestic cinema began to make a mark on its domestic box office. With an annual production of about 34 feature films, Belgium€™s domestic market continues to grow alongside a very healthy amount of co-productions with the cinematic behemoths of Hollywood and beyond. Bronze - Tintin and Me (Anders Høgsbro ˜stergaard, 2003) I€™m not going to lie, I€™m a big fan of Tintin. I grew up watching some of the cartoons and seeing my love for the cartoon, my parents bought me many of Herge€™s comics. Coming across this glorious documentary on BBC4 last year, part of me has included it due to Tintin€™s status as an iconic character in Belgium and part of me has included it because it is one of the most brilliant and personal documentaries of recent years. Tintin and Me utilizes the interviews of a young student (Numa Sadoul) who managed to get one of, if not, the most personal of interviews with the creator of Tintin; the great Georges Remi or Herge as he was better known. Delving deeper into the invention of Tintin and how its success affected Herge€™s life; Tintin and Me is an extremely personal piece of work which brings an unprecedented amount of depth to his 2D characters. As a massive fan of the comics and cartoons it is amazing to see how much of Herge€™s own life was blended into the life of Tintin and his acquaintances, leading Tintin and Me to be a thoroughly interesting watch. A film that everyone should scan the timetable of BBC4 for on a regular basis. Or you know, you can tweet at them demanding it be repeated. It might just work. Silver - L€™Enfant (The Dardenne Bros. 2006) The Dardenne bros, have been at the forefront of Belgian cinema for many, many years. Regulars on the art house circuit; L€™Enfant was the second film of theirs to take home the Palme D€™or at Cannes. Dealing with a quite troubling subject matter, the Dardenne brothers have always pushed the boundaries of humanity and its willingness to commit deplorable acts to survive. In L€™Enfant, a young couple Sonia and Bruno are challenged day to day by a lack of money, making a living via Sonia€™s welfare checks and Bruno€™s petty crime. When Sonia falls pregnant and soon has a baby boy, Bruno struggles to take on his new role as a father. Instead he commits a horrible and shocking act; he sells his son to the black market. An extremely distressing watch, L€™Enfant is a ruthlessly dark film with a character we will never be able to sympathize with for his actions. Bruno€™s seeking of redemption is one which challenges the audience. The camera is glued to him throughout the film yet he remains emotionless, the camera does not become a tool for the audience to identify with him, instead it just allows observation. We never actually really get to see any motivation for his actions other than a capital gain, he doesn't view the act as bad or bad, just merely as a way to get by in the world. So when he seeks to get the child back, we remain unsure as to why. For personal gratification maybe, or perhaps for the girlfriend he has let down? Watching as he struggles to come to terms with his act, the narrative push is as important externally (The films narrative), as it is internally (Within Bruno). His descent into a murky underworld which he, himself, had opened the gates to, is full of despair, taking our protagonist to these depths is bold. The Dardenne's don't expect us to empathise with him, but they expect us to follow him there, they refuse us the answers to our troubled protagonist and instead they allow their audience to come to their own gratifications. It is confident film-making to bend the rules of convention, yet the Belgian brothers pull it off with aplomb. Gold - Man Bites Dog (Remy Belvaux, 1992) With my relatively small knowledge of Belgian cinema, I am willing to go out on a limb and call Man Bites Dog; Belgians most controversial film to date. A mockumentary of sorts, it follows round a film crew as they film Ben, a serial killer going about his business. Not shying away from his murders, the filmmakers witness at first hand his nonchalance respect for murder. What makes the film so difficult to watch, is that Ben, a man who we witness committing many heinous and disturbing acts of violence, is worryingly, extremely likeable. What the film seeks to show is a critique of the media, a dark satire of how violence is used as promotion material, similar to Michael Haneke' films. Ben€™s violence becomes spectacle, it is gratification and most of all it is disturbing. But what becomes clear is the way he is playing up to the camera, accepting of his now celebrity status, one must ask would he commit these acts in such fashion, if the camera crew (the media) were not a promised presence. When Ben and the crew come across another serial killer and his crew, it acts as a rival station, competing for the best violent footage to titillate their audience. Its beauty might not lie in its cinema-verite style, but its gritty realism along with a subtlety equivalent to a shot to the head, is needed to make its point. It may be horrific but Belvaux's career will always be defined by the dark depths of Ben's mind.