Belgian writer-director-actor Bouli Lanners turns the backroads of his native land into a widescreen setting for a melancholy road movie-cum-buddy movie that strikes all the right absurdist notes in an admirably concise running time. When used car dealer Yvan (Lanenrs) discovers heroin addict Elie (Fabrice Adde) robbing his apartment he takes an unlikely shine to the younger man and they hit the road in Yvan’s vintage Chevrolet. Lanners has said he wanted Wallonia to resemble Montana, and he and cinematographer Jean-Paul De Zaeytijd pull it off: they’re poets of abrupt weather. With Philippe Nahon, Didier Toupy, Franise Chichy. Renaud Mayeur’s score offers ironic grandeur. 80m. 35mm. (Ray Pride)
Related Stories
Heart: A Review of Soul The real world is soulful, too, in Pixar's bountiful life of the mind.
Seeing The Elephant: A Review Of Babylon The boisterous, brawling yet melancholy "Babylon," is a variation on film history, but more drawing for drama. It's gaudy and mean, celebratory and sorrowful.
Uncanny Ally: A Review Of M3GAN "M3GAN" sells itself in its first handful of seconds in how it introduces the handiwork of roboticist Gemma (Allison Williams, "Get Out") and her present product, PurrPetual Petz from Funki.
