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| Madman (Australia). Region 4, PAL. 2.50:1 (16:9 enhanced). French DD 2.0, French DD 5.1. English Subtitles. 87 minutes |
| The Movie |
| Cover Art |
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| Credits |
Director: Fabrice
Du Welz
Starring: Laurent Lucas,
Jackie Berroyer, Jean-Luc Couchard, Philippe Nahon
Screenplay: Fabrice
Du Welz, Romain Protat
Music:Vincent Cahay
Tagline: Some people
would kill for company.
Country: Belgium/France
AKA: Calvaire |
The Ordeal was originally called Calvaire, which translates to "martyrdom."
While this may not seem like the worst re-titling
in the history of foreign cinema, the original title
brings a whole new meaning to the film. Maybe Belgian
black comedies are a target for inappropriate renaming
by distributors, as the superb and underrated (by
those who've only seen the censored version,
anyway) C'est Arrivé Près
de Chez Vous (It Happened in Your
Neighbourhood) was oddly rechristened Man
Bites Dog.
The Ordeal is the story of a low rent cabaret singer heading
to a Christmas gig. Yes, this is a Christmas movie.
Pour some eggnog, break out the mistletoe, hunker
down with the family in front of the tele, and
wait for Santa while this film spreads some Yuletide
cheer. Anyway, the singer gets lost in some foggy,
wet woods, and then his van snuffs it. Stranded,
the singer winds up at a closed local inn. At
first the innkeepers seems overly helpful, towing
the van back to the inn and offering to try and
fix it. But something is not right with the innkeeper,
and it seems the other locals might be even more
messed up. It's clear straight away that
the innkeeper's mad, but his obsession is
genuinely shocking in its extremes (or, depending
on your interpretation, the final twist is quite
shocking).
For some reason, The Ordeal was granted an MA by the OFLC, despite a rather
mean spirited bestiality scene. It's not
as graphic as the boar fucking in Mountain
of the Cannibal God, but it's far
creepier. The Ordeal has some
violence, but I think what has unsettled many
viewers is the absolutely bleak, pitch black comedy.
Scenes are played out to be so uncomfortable they
are funny, like The Office or Curb Your Enthusiasm gone terribly
wrong…or should that be gone even worse?
The Ordeal features good use
of widescreen, and the cinematography is excellent.
The visuals are strong, often with great chiaroscuro,
so even while the viewer is somewhat ahead of
the plot, the imagery keeps the film engaging.
The film has many tributes to 70s cinema, and
has drawn comparison to Straw Dogs and Deliverance. I'd say both
films were a big influence, and another major
one noted on the slick is Misery.
However, I couldn't help but compare the
film to Sonny Boy, as well. Even
the idea of a mixture of those four films might
not prepare one for the utter bizarreness that
actually plays out in The Ordeal. |
| Video |
| The film is presented at 2.50:1 in a 16x9 enhanced
print. The picture is sharp, with only the rare
spot or speck. There is some grain, but it may be
intentional as it gives the images depth. Aside
from a few shots of some fog, the grain is not distracting
at all. There were a few digital glitches on the
disc, but that may be my cheap ass player. |
| Audio |
| The Ordeal comes with English
subs, with Dolby Digital 5.1 or 2.0 French tracks.
That's Belgian French, for those of you in
Canada; Africa; or, indeed, France. On both tracks,
the sound is well mixed and at an appropriate level,
with dialogue clear. The 5.1 mix is used appropriately,
with wind swirling, water rushing by, and action
sequences playing out across the sound scape. |
| Extra Features |
The specific extras are the film's trailer
and a nearly 30 minute making of. The making of
seems like a Belgian TV special. The focal point
of the making of is a lengthy interview with writer/director
Fabrice Du Welz. He breaks down quite a lot of info
and has some very interesting things to say of his
film, making this is handy little feature.
As for your standard advertisements…I mean,
extras in the form of trailers, we get the anti-piracy
ad (can't wait to see the feature length);
a trailer for Immortal, which
looks like an inferior Night Watch; Ju-On; The Eye;
and Kwaidan, that Japanese film
that has some wonderful moments but is tragically
slow. |
| The Verdict |
Good direction, deliberate packing, and darkly
uncomfortable humour create a solid film here. Regardless,
it would be hard to not recommend checking out a
movie that features what has to be the most bizarre
dance number ever committed to celluloid.
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