Film Review | The Broken Circle Breakdown

Traditionally speaking, 'sad' films come in two varieties. There are those that make you want to slit your wrists and those that make you want to cry.

The former kind are largely represented by the bleak dioramas of a Lars von Trier or a Michael Haneke, whose cynicism about the human race leads to clinically incisive and powerful, but entirely depressing affairs (which more often than not turn out to be critical darlings before they've even hatched their way out of the studio).

For better or for worse - this reviewer would argue it's for the better - the Belgian drama The Broken Circle Breakdown slots into the latter category, however. The misfortunes suffered by its protagonist couple - folk musician Didier (Johan Heldenbergh) and tattooist Elise (Veerle Baetens) - are many, to the point where it lesser hands, it would turn into a melodrama, pure and simple. 

Instead, thanks to its sensitive handling of grief, Felix Van Groeningen's film is neither hackneyed nor depressing-for-the-sake of it.

Opting for a storytelling approach that is reminiscent both in theme and structure to the Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams-starring Blue Valentine, 'Breakdown' recounts the courtship and fallout of the star-crossed Didier and Elise. Their relationship appears to be a picture-perfect romance, as even the unexpected arrival of their daughter Maybelle (Nell Cattrysse) only helps their love-at-first-sight bond to grow stronger.

But when the young girl is diagnosed with cancer, their relationship is put on trial. As they try to cope with their situation, it's their respective outlooks on life that may turn out to be their undoing, as Elise clutches to a vague but powerful belief to a higher power, while Didier is keen to undermine it with his atheist convictions.

It's not the most uplifting pitch for a film, admittedly... but going into it with aknowledge of the basic plot actually helps to make it a compelling experience. Because if ever an illustration were needed for how it's not about what a story is about, but how you tell it - this is it.

Far from being a misery-fest through and through, 'Breakdown' is an emotional journey that easily knocks any Hollywood competitor out of the park. (And neither does it do this by being excessively bold in its artistic choices: let's not forget that just because a film is labelled 'foreign', it doesn't mean it's automatically 'art house'.)

Though the non-chronological approach does creak every now and then - sometimes it's a tad confusing, other times a tad too neat - the film is painful, but ultimately satisfying because its various elements are brewed together seamlessly.

The opening shot establishes that music will play a central role in the film - that it won't just be a detail of the characters' biography or a condiment to aid atmosphere and enhance emotional impact. Didier, accompanied by his bluegrass band - the fact that it's made up of Flemish musicians intoning perfect English through American-as-American-can-be folk anthems is a significant thematic strand - sing the song whose lyrics contain the film's title. Later, we discover that Elise fell in love with Didier on that same night. Music serves to not only bring our characters together - in what is the film's most awkward contrivance, Elise turns out to be an excellent singer too - but it also serves as a balm during key moments of tragedy.

This is a frequently trotted-out trick to keep viewers from collapsing into a depression mid-film. But this time, the characters are musicians themselves, which means they can also partake of the consolatory power of art.

In a film that's largely about how faith is a prickly, deeply contested thing, it's the power of human creativity which in the end is revealed to reign supreme.

 The Broken Circle Breakdown will be shown at St James Cavalier, Valletta today and November 29 as part of the Lux Film Festival screenings. For more information, log on to sjcav.org.