Les Convoyeurs attendent (1999)
Directed by Benoît Mariage

Film Review

An utterly weird conflation of social realism and surreal-slanted black comedy, Les Convoyeurs attendent is the kind of cinematic oddity you might expect to get if Ken Loach ever had the good fortune to make a film with Luis Buñuel.  The bizarre comedy episodes that make up the threadbare narrative seem to be completely at odds with the alluringly lyrical black and white photography, making this one of the most distinctive films to come out of Belgium in decades.  Is it intended to be a warped commentary on present day society's obsession with celebrity, or an object lesson on how not to be a bad parent?  It's hard to say what the film is meant to be about, but whilst it often feels daft and aimless, it does offer a lot of fun.  If nothing else, it proves beyond any doubt that Belgians have a sense of humour.

This was the first full-length film to be directed by Benoît Mariage, who made his name shortly before this by working on the popular Belgian television programme Strip-Tease.  He had already directed two short films, including Le Signaleur (1997), which received the Critics' Grand Prize at Cannes.  This latter film brought together two established actors who would subsequently have a massive impact on francophone cinema - Benoît Poelvoorde and Olivier Gourmet.

Poelvoorde achieved overnight fame through his role as a serial killer in the notorious Belgian black comedy C'est arrivé près de chez vous (1992), which he co-directed with Rémy Belvaux and André Bonzel,  He was the ideal choice for the lead role in Les Convoyeurs attendent, playing a man who has difficulty reconciling his parental love for his children with an uncontrollable aggressive streak, the latter no doubt caused by a crippling lack of self-esteem and his experiences as a jobbing journalist.

This is the kind of ambiguous, darkly comical role that Poelvoorde is particularly well suited for, exemplified by his performance in Anne Fontaine's Entre ses mains (2005). In Mariage's film, the actor comes across as a manic Chaplin-Tom Hanks hybrid, a sympathetic Gumpish obsessive caught up in the delusion of easy fame, heedless of what this might do to his family relationships.

The film is particularly effective in drawing its audience into the slightly deranged worlds of the protagonists, all of whom would seem to be afflicted with a crippling form of autism - firstly Roger (Poelvoorde's character), then his small daughter, then his solitary neighbour Félix (whose only friends are his homing pigeons, hence the film's title), and finally the put-upon teen son Michel.  The characters all have a cartoonish air to them, but still we are compelled to feel for them as we glimpse the tragedy beneath the seemingly comical exterior.

Lacking a sustained narrative thread and over-prone to taking the odd detour as and when it wants to like a drunken sightseer, Les Convoyeurs attendent is somewhat lacking in coherence and feels more like a series of short films a little too hastily spliced together than a bona fide feature.  Fortunately, Poelvoorde's knock-out performance provides the film with the emotional core it needs, with a few moments of genuine poignancy surfacing as we are bounced from one madcap comic situation to another.

Film Synopsis

A new millennium beckons but life goes on as usual in a dull industrial town in Belgium.  Family man Roger Closset works as a journalist on a local newspaper, L'Espoir, zipping around on his moped in search of an interesting news story, with little hope of finding one.  Disillusioned with his day job, Roger is keen to make his mark on the world, so it is with keen interest that he receives the news that the town's business leaders are organising a competition.  A brand new car will be offered to anyone who succeeds in getting his or her name into the Guinness Book of Records.

Realising that his moment of glory has finally come, Roger coerces his 15 year old son Michel into entering the competition - his challenge being to open and close a door 40,000 times within 24 hours.  To that end, Roger has a door and frame put up in his garden, and then begins a hyper-intensive period of training.  It would seem that nothing is going to get in the way of one Belgian family's attempt at lasting fame.  Unfortunately, things rarely go to plan, especially in Charleroi...