They say blood is thicker than water, well in director Felix van Groeningen’s follow-up to his gritty Oscar-nominated film, The Broken Circle Breakdown, that bond is put to the test in the high-energy, rowdy, rousing family drama, Belgica.
In van Groeningen’s narrative, he establishes a story about two brothers who while close are at very different points of personal contentment. Jo (Stef Aerts) runs a small bar, Belgica, that is a neighborhood haunt that features concerts and a party atmosphere and DJ. The vibe is funky and fun and older brother, Frank (Tom Vermeir), wants in. While he has a beautiful wife and young child, he feels unfulfilled. Quite desperate, he convinces his brother that they should work together on an expanded bar.
Soon, the new Belgica has become all the rage in Belgium. Instead of small concerts, the updated productions are over-the-top spectacles with amazing sets, elaborate light shows, special performance pieces but above all some of the best musical performances in all of Europe.
As their business reaches its apex, you know it’s just a matter of time until the bottom falls out. Compounding matters is both brothers’ relationships are beginning to fray under their extreme vices. Jo’s lady, party girl Marieke (Hélène De Vos) also works at the bar but when they are forced into a traumatic situation, he finally sees his companion for who she truly is. His brother is not so lucky as he begins to emotionally disintegrate under a mountain of booze, drugs and other women. It is only a matter of time until both brothers are at each other’s throats.
A companion film to The Broken Circle Breakdown, once again van Groeningen tackles another intimate story about relationships. Unlike the deep, soul-searching, heartbreaking narrative of that film, this film doesn’t delve enough under the surface to explain the relationship between the brothers. As the narrative unfolds, we experience their struggles but the screenplay, co-written by van Groeningen and Arne Sierens doesn’t quite provide enough a connection to understand why these two feel so strongly about one another, outside of their blood connection.
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But let’s not kid ourselves, this story is about hard-driving, pulsating music. It is everywhere in this film, whether in the bar, in intimate scenes where one character tells a bedtime story using music to illustrate his tale. Several years ago, in the Best Foreign-Language Oscar-winning film, The Great Beauty, there was a pulsating opening that featured one of the best party scenes caught on film. In Belgica, that scene is duplicated several times and it never gets old. Without his usual strong relational narrative, van Groeningen relies on his secondary strength and the film’s strongest device, the music. The score and soundtrack are constant, loud and all-encompassing, coming at you in waves and just when you think you have reached your limit, there is ANOTHER song that takes you higher. So impressive was the music in the film, that one wishes that you could go straight to the store and pick up the soundtrack.
The brothers balance each other out and while they have their own personalities and distinct ideas for their business, at their core they perfectly balance each other out. As their issues and challenges with each other increase, they each suffer the loss in different ways. Frank’s wife implores Jo to “mend their riff because he needs you and you need each other.”
In his latest, van Groeningen has switched tones but still is very adept at the examination of relationships. While not as well executed as his previous film, Belgica still has plenty of energy and panache that helps this engaging story succeed despite some obvious shortcomings.
Grade: B-