FLANDRES
FLANDERS |
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DIRECTOR
Bruno Dumont
SCREENPLAY
Bruno Dumont
CAST
Barbe: Adélaïde Leroux
Demester: Samuel Boidin
Blondel: Henri Cretel
Briche: Jean-Marie Bruveart
Leclercq: David Poulain
Mordac: Patrice Venant
AWARDS
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize, Cannes Film Festival (2006).
Running time: 91’
Production: France, 2006
Rating: Not rated
Gauge: 35mm, DVD (color)
GENRE
Drama
DISTRIBUTOR
International Film Circuit
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"A somber, beautifully acted
reflection on the barbarity of war and the bestiality of man.
The wonderfully directed performances of leads Boidin as the
silent, brooding André and Leroux as the easy country
girl are fresh and raw. Punctuated with intense close-ups, Yves
Capes's sensitive cinematography has an elegant spareness even
in dreariest coupling, then swings wide in dazzling desert panoramas
and sweeping Flanders landscapes."
Deborah Young, Variety |
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Flanders is a peaceful
and quiet countryside. Time moves slowly, and talk is rare.
André Demester divides his time between his farm and
silent walks with Barbe, his childhood friend. He loves her
secretly and painfully, accepting that she wants to remain free.
In the land, their only witness, they share crude moments of
physical love and a closeness that is above words. There is
not much to do in Flanders, opportunities are few and far between.
Along with the others his age, Demester leaves home to be a
soldier in a war in a far off land. There, the terrible reality
of the war strikes and the group of friends must act in accordance
with their environment. The harshness of fighting hits them
as hard as the boredom of Flanders drained them. Training, machine
guns, noise and fear transform André's behavior in the
most atrocious way and turn him into a warrior. As the seasons
go by, Barbe, alone and wasting away, feels the soldiers' despair
and waits for them to return. She carries the burden of their
suffering, but also the child of one of them… André
returns to Flanders as a shadow, a schizophrenic. Barbe's love
may be his only salvation.
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| PHOTO International
Film Circuit |
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