|
|
Les Convoyeurs attendent
1999 Comedy / Drama
|
Director:
Benoît Mariage
Starring: Benoît Poelvoorde, Morgane Simon, Bouli Lanners, Dominique Baeyens, Philippe Grand’Henry |
|
|
Summary
In a bleak industrial town, a disillusioned journalist, Roger is determined to make his
mark on the world. When he hears about a competition to get into the Book of Records,
he coerces his adolescent son, Michel, into entering – his challenge being to open and
close a door 40,000 times within 24 hours...
Credits
|
Review
A bizarre melange of social realism and surrealist black comedy, Les Convoyeurs attendent
paints a dark, funny, yet strangely moving portrait of the relationship between a
father and his two children. Beautifully filmed in wistful black and white, it is
the first full-length film from Belgian director Benoît Mariage and features well-known
Belgian actor Benoît Poelvoorde. Poelvoorde has acquired something of a reputation
for playing dark, manic characters, most famously the psychopath documentary-maker in
the shocking black comedy C’est
arrivé près de chez vous (1992). In Les Convoyeurs attendent
, Poelvoorde gives a brilliant portrayal of a middle-aged man who has difficulty reconciling
his parental love for his children with an uncontrollable aggressive streak which stems
from a lack of self-esteem and his experiences as a journalist.
Killingly funny in places, with some magnificently restrained comic situations, Les Convoyeurs attendent is also a hugely poignant film. What is perhaps most striking is the way it manages to draw its audience into the worlds of the main characters in the film – first Roger, then his small daughter, then his solitary neighbour Félix (who has only his pigeons for company) and then his teenage son. Repeatedly, Benoît Mariage demonstrates that a carefully constructed scene, suitably photographed makes dialogue superfluous. It is these moments of awkward silence which provide the film’s most memorable moments and give it a profoundly engaging sense of humanity – albeit from an amusingly skew-whiff perspective. © James Travers 2002 Write a review for this film... User Comments
How do you rate this film?
|
To buy this film...
  |
|
Genre: Decade: |
Action
Comedy
Drama
Horror
Musical
Rom-com
Sci-Fi
Thriller
War
The best
1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s |
© filmsdefrance.com 2009