Kenny, who was the only one to get punished for a failed homejacking, emerges from prison after four years. Imprisonment has not mellowed his temper - on the contrary, he is a simmering cauldron full of racism, frustration and resentment. Kenny's brother Dave does not dare to confess that he is now living with Kenny's ex-girlfriend, let alone that the said ex-girlfriend is pregnant with his child...
"D'Ardennen" is a remarkably bold and confident crime movie / psychological drama from Belgium. It tells the story of two Flemish brothers - both of them a product of a chaotic and disenfranchised environment - who fall victim to their own vices and weaknesses. It is obvious from the outset that this story is not going to end well, but the how and why of the brothers' blood-drenched ruin remains interesting. The movie works up to a particularly grim and violent resolution - bloodshed ! betrayal ! ostriches ! - and a diabolical twist.
The acting is outstanding, especially from the three protagonists. The various locations too are well chosen and well filmed. The Ardennes, for instance, are no longer the beloved summer holiday destination of o so many happy Flemings, but a grim woodland area where everything and anything can be made to disappear : cars, weapons, corpses. Simple trees have rarely looked so sinister.
Sign of the times : when I was young, most inhabitants of the Ardennes only had to worry about escaped boars. (Smuggling and rustling boars was, and remains, a local speciality. I remember many a majestic investigation where pensive policemen or gendarmes would ponder the essential inscrutability of things, over a bottle of Maitrank.) Nowadays people can worry about escaped ostriches, too.
"D'Ardennen" is a remarkably bold and confident crime movie / psychological drama from Belgium. It tells the story of two Flemish brothers - both of them a product of a chaotic and disenfranchised environment - who fall victim to their own vices and weaknesses. It is obvious from the outset that this story is not going to end well, but the how and why of the brothers' blood-drenched ruin remains interesting. The movie works up to a particularly grim and violent resolution - bloodshed ! betrayal ! ostriches ! - and a diabolical twist.
The acting is outstanding, especially from the three protagonists. The various locations too are well chosen and well filmed. The Ardennes, for instance, are no longer the beloved summer holiday destination of o so many happy Flemings, but a grim woodland area where everything and anything can be made to disappear : cars, weapons, corpses. Simple trees have rarely looked so sinister.
Sign of the times : when I was young, most inhabitants of the Ardennes only had to worry about escaped boars. (Smuggling and rustling boars was, and remains, a local speciality. I remember many a majestic investigation where pensive policemen or gendarmes would ponder the essential inscrutability of things, over a bottle of Maitrank.) Nowadays people can worry about escaped ostriches, too.