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In 1997 he released his first film entitled,
Folles aventures de thierry Van Hoost. Then
in 1999 he released a hysterical tale of a
strange woman with a most wonderful love,
entitled, Quand on est amoureux c’est
merveilleux (which just so happens to be
included on this European DVD). In 2004 he
released by far on one the most deranged and
fantastic movies in a long while. From Belgian
director, Fabrice Du Welz, comes!

Calvaire
(A.k.a.:
The Ordeal)
For
starters, I can definitely agree with the
comparisons written in the liner notes of
this film, they are almost to the tee.
Basically stating that Calvaire, is a
mixture of Straw Dogs, Deliverance,
and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
I also felt that there was a bit of Stephen
Kings’ Misery thrown in as well. You
may be thinking to yourself, “How the fuck
can you can you mix all of these classics
together and still be original?” Well I’ll
explain a little bit, for your reading
pleasure.
Marc
Stevens (Laurent Lucas) is a young
Cabaret singer, traveling to a Christmas
gig. While driving through a sludgy,
swampy, cold, rainy road in a remote part of
Belgium, Marc has a sudden scare.
Mysteriously, after this incident his van
then breaks down, leaving him stranded.
In
the middle of nowhere, he notices a sign for
a local Inn. While reading the sign he is
startled by a troubled looking young man
named Boris, who has been roaming the woods
and swamps, in search of his lost dog
Bella. Though being a weirdo, Boris is nice
enough to show Marc to the Inn.
Mr.
Bartel, the owner of the Inn, Is quite taken
by the young man and offers him a place to
sleep for the night and take a look at his
van, as he says he is quite the mechanic.
After finding his van broken into and a few
articles from the inside missing, Marc
decides to inspect Bartels’ room, only to
find the missing stuff. As marc begins to
question Bartel, a strange occurrence
begins. Bartel believes Marc to be his long
lost wife! To mistake a young, not so
handsome man for a woman, is beyond me. I
mean, either the woman was brutally ugly and
had a penis, or this man is completely
insane.
At
this point, Marcs’ horrible ordeal begins.
Being a film that needs to be seen to be
believed, I will continue and attempt not to
give too much of the film away!
Enduring great torture in comparison to
Misery and a dinner scene straight out
of Texas Chainsaw Massacre (The
screaming and extreme close-ups on the eyes,
made this scene really stand out), Marc
at this point seems to be completely
screwed.
Moving forward, to a sudden attack on the
house (Inn) by a group of backwoods,
pig fucking, Belgian rednecks. This scene,
being a huge reminder of the attack on the
Sumner household, in Straw Dogs!
Guns a’ blazin in true Peckinpah
style. This attack leads us to the next
comparison, which would be Deliverance.
This scene gives a whole new meaning to the
term “Squeal like a pig!”
Ratings:
For acting I give a 9.
The characters in this film were extremely
well played and all too believable. The
actors chosen were, every one of them,
perfect for their roles. The utter insanity
to come from some of them was almost
comedically, disturbing.
As for the direction and
screenplay, I give a 9. As I had
mentioned earlier, the use of its obvious
influences but doing so with complete
originality is pure genius!
For the FX and such, I guess
I would give a 7, only for the fact
that this film relies more on the mind than
it does on visual, though visually
astounding.
For the Cinematography I feel
a 10 is in order. Shot by the
brilliant eye of Benoit Debie, the
same man who shot the incredible,
Irreversible and Argentos’ The
Card Player. Clean, crisp, and
absolutely superb!
Now, as for the score, I give
a 10. Although, not really having
any music, a bar scene in the film has a
song played on the piano that is all too
eerily familiar.
For the film overall I give a
9. Calvaire is brutally
violent, sad, strangely amusing and has a
complete edge of your seat feel. This film
will leave you amazed and in complete awe!
By far one the most mentally disturbing
films I have seen this year.
For fans of films like the
earlier mentioned Misery,
Deliverance, Straw Dogs, Texas
Chainsaw Massacre, even Haute Tension
and Irreversible, this is a must own!
You can purchase this
European DVD from
www.xploitedcinema.com.
I suggest you do, before it hits American
theatres!
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