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Flanders (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Flanders' is a 2006 French drama film, written and directed by Bruno Dumont. It tells the story of Andr Demester, a man whose girlfriend betrays him out of frustration with his lack of emotion. He is then sent to fight in an unnamed Middle Eastern country, where he experiences (and participates in) the horrors of war.
Plot
Running a dilapidated farm, the taciturn Andr leads a hard and lonely life, enlivened only by visits from Barbe, a neighbour's young daughter with whom he has quick couplings in a copse. Resenting Andr's lack of affection, she picks up Blondel in a bar where they are drinking and has noisy sex outside in his car. Both men are called up to fight in a Middle Eastern country, leaving Barbe pregnant.
Andr and Blondel's platoon go on a long patrol in the bare mountains, shooting men and children and raping a woman. They are captured by insurgents, who emasculate the rapist before shooting him and execute most of the rest. Only Andr and Blondel are left when a helicopter arrives overhead and the two seize the chance to flee. When Blondel is hit in the leg, Andr runs on alone.
Barbe meanwhile has undergone an abortion and, falling into depression, been confined in a psychiatric hospital. She is released when a traumatised Andr returns to run his farm. Though they have passionless sex in their old meeting place, he cannot open up to her about the horror of his experiences and his abandonment of the wounded Blondel. She gets a girl friend to try and draw out Andr's feelings and, after they talk, he is able to cry over the victims on both sides. Next time Barbe comes round, he confesses that he loves her and she responds.
Cast
* Adlade Leroux as Barbe
* Samuel Boidin as Andr Demester
* Henri Cretel as Blondel
* Jean-Marie Bruveart as Briche
* David Poulain as Leclercq
* Patrice Venant as Mordac
* David Legay as Lieutenant
* Inge Decaesteker as France
Awards
The film won the Grand Prix at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.
References
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