Release Date: November 1, 2013
Director: Felix Van Groeningen
MPAA Rating: NR
Review: 6/10
The Broken Circle Breakdown is an enigmatic film. It is set in Belgium and is in Flemish, except when the Belgian actors break into bluegrass and southern gospel songs – for then they sound as if they came straight out of Kentucky. It is also told in a non-linear fashion with flashbacks and flash-forwards. Some of the material has been covered before, including in non-linear storytelling; however, the film’s strengths outweigh its inclusion of previously-covered themes and techniques and I recommend seeing it.
Breakdown tells the love and marriage story of Didier (Johan Heldenbergh) and Elise (Veerle Baetens). But it opens with a future event. First, we see a group of men playing and singing a bluegrass version of the old southern gospel song “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” This is a song I have known well since childhood. It is asking about one’s family’s existence in Heaven. Is everyone in the family going to be reunited there; that is, will the familial circle be intact when all have passed away? The next scene shows Didier and Elise’s young daughter in a hospital obviously being tested for cancer and we know at least part of the reason for that song and the film’s title. Maybelle (Nell Cattrysse) does indeed have cancer, most likely some form of leukemia as she is given stem cell transplants in an effort to save her little life. It is no spoiler, I think, to say that she does not survive though she does reappear throughout the film given the non-linear storytelling.
The film then jumps to Didier and Elise’s arrival at the house he’s renovating and the trailer in which he’s living. There, they have the first of several sexual encounters we will see them have throughout the film. These are cathartic experience, it seems, for the characters and they are obviously into each other in a way deeper than physical attraction. Given that this first encounter takes place seven years before the initial scene of Maybelle’s cancer diagnosis, it is possible that she was conceived on that fateful night but whether the two were married at the time remains a mystery (not that it matters, really).
Before long in the film’s run, we see that Elise has joined Didier and his bluegrass band. She has a terrific southern-sounding voice and sings the songs with great precision and gusto, often in the lead. These musical sequences are wonderful, especially for someone like me who immensely enjoys this musical genre. But I can see where some viewers will find the back-and-forth between Flemish-speaking and Belgian-sounding actors talking and the same people singing with accents from the American South either deeply schizophrenic or incredibly and inventively charming. I have landed somewhere in the middle, which is why I did not rate the film higher than I did; given one’s take on the switches made, I can see how some reviewers will rate it higher and some lower than I.
The grief that comes with losing a child and its effect on the parents’ marriage has appeared in numerous films, such as the recently well-received Rabbit Hole starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart. The non-linear way of presenting a relationship’s ups and downs has also been done, most notably in Blue Valentine starring Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. I think both of those films are better than Breakdown in their respective themes and storytelling methods. In these respects, Breakdown breaks no new ground. However, the relationship is realistically portrayed and nearly all of the various speeches and passages of dialogue are fitting and well done; the acting of Heldenbergh, Baetens, and even Cattrysse is to be generally praised.
One major weakness and another reason why my recommendation of the film is not stronger come in two scenes. Early on, Didier has expressed his love of America, perhaps particularly because he loves some of our music. In the first scene, his love of America changes to hatred when he watches President George W. Bush’s announcement vetoing some forms of stem cell research. Elise immediately points out the absurdity of his reaction given that such restrictions do not exist in Belgium and stem cells were readily available and given to Maybelle; maybe she should have also reminded him that she died anyway. The second scene comes later when, at a concert, Didier sings a love song intended for Elise with whom he’s sharing the stage and she turns away from him (this is when they are having marital trouble). He launches into a diatribe about religion’s role in policymaking and the futility of believing in God. Did I mention that he is a devout atheist and she supposedly has some spirituality if not necessarily existing as a religious person? Well, it figures in the story, but it does so in a scattershot way and the film need not divide its two protagonists along these lines to create drama given how much naturally exists between a married couple.
Despite this last paragraph, I recommend the film to those who want to see something different than the usual story of love and loss. I will not say what happens at the film’s end, but there is more devastation to come and yet the movie ends on a somewhat hopeful note. Give it a chance and after you do, come back to Film Pulse and comment on the film. I am quite interested to hear what viewers have to say about the film’s unusual presentation.
