The Broken Circle Breakdown is an intensely moving cinema about passion, love, loss & sadness and paints a very touching portrait of two people who fall madly in love, start a family & pursue their passions together but when an unexpected tragedy hits their young daughter, their relationship, love for each other & everything they believe in is put on a test while also setting in motion a chain of events that end up truly devastating for each one of them.
A very nicely written story that is even more beautifully invigorated on the screen by the director and with the help of strong performances from the cast & exceptional use of music, it brings alive a grounded life of two very different people trying to live their life together. The experience of watching this film is going to be sad, there is no doubt about it, but it doesn't mean the movie is all gloomy because there are some moments in the film that'll have you humming with its tune without you being aware of it.
The performances by Johan Heldenbergh & Veerle Baetens as Dieter & Elise, respectively, is absolutely riveting. Elise is a religious realist who works as a tattoo artist. Dieter is a romantic atheist who is a banjo player in his bluegrass band. The film makes use of flashbacks to tell how these two people with vastly different views find love for each other while the present time of their lives show a depressing moment in their lives where each of them is going through a very tough time due to their daughter's illness. Since they dominate the screen throughout the film, the chemistry between the two actors needed to click & it turned out to be very good indeed as both have done a fabulous job at it.
On an overall scale, The Broken Circle Breakdown is a wonderful film to come out from Belgium and is one of that nation's finest film in years. The issues it deals with, including the little conflicts between religion & science, are pretty universal and easy to connect with. Plus, the entire plot is so efficiently propelled by its remarkable music that it's arguably the finest use of country songs in a film. The scene ordering is messy & poorly done and might become challenging for its viewers, but all in all, The Broken Circle Breakdown is a really good film that fared much better than what I was expecting from it and is definitely worth a watch.
A very nicely written story that is even more beautifully invigorated on the screen by the director and with the help of strong performances from the cast & exceptional use of music, it brings alive a grounded life of two very different people trying to live their life together. The experience of watching this film is going to be sad, there is no doubt about it, but it doesn't mean the movie is all gloomy because there are some moments in the film that'll have you humming with its tune without you being aware of it.
The performances by Johan Heldenbergh & Veerle Baetens as Dieter & Elise, respectively, is absolutely riveting. Elise is a religious realist who works as a tattoo artist. Dieter is a romantic atheist who is a banjo player in his bluegrass band. The film makes use of flashbacks to tell how these two people with vastly different views find love for each other while the present time of their lives show a depressing moment in their lives where each of them is going through a very tough time due to their daughter's illness. Since they dominate the screen throughout the film, the chemistry between the two actors needed to click & it turned out to be very good indeed as both have done a fabulous job at it.
On an overall scale, The Broken Circle Breakdown is a wonderful film to come out from Belgium and is one of that nation's finest film in years. The issues it deals with, including the little conflicts between religion & science, are pretty universal and easy to connect with. Plus, the entire plot is so efficiently propelled by its remarkable music that it's arguably the finest use of country songs in a film. The scene ordering is messy & poorly done and might become challenging for its viewers, but all in all, The Broken Circle Breakdown is a really good film that fared much better than what I was expecting from it and is definitely worth a watch.