Review by: Andrew Chan FCCA AACTA FIPRESCI
Review Date: 3rd May 2014

Directed by: Felix van Groeningen
Starring: Johan Heldenbergh, Veerle Baetens

Screening courtesy of Edko Film Distribution

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This film is about how music can bring two souls together and in the process showing the unpredictable nature of life, the ups and downs of a relationships and how a traumatic event can ruin people and eventually lives. The Oscar nominated Best Foreign Film “The Broken Circle Breakdown” is precisely its title and director Felix van Groeningen provides minimal light in this dark and bleak work.

The music in the film is an absolute gem and in many ways remain one of the highlight of the film. Perhaps it is a coincident that like the music genius of “Walk the Line” and “Blue Valentine”, they all have to go through the mountains of ups and downs. Johan Heldenbergh is amazingly brilliant as the husband and father having to deal with his young child falling to cancer and later the breakdown of his marriage with the pitch perfect – Veerle Baetens. Baetens shows plenty of acting chops and in particular the later scenes of her inner sufferings and ultimate mental illness is almost heart wrenching to endure.

All in all, this is a film about life, love, relationships, death and in effect how people deal with adversity and traumatic moments. With the duo going through so much sadness, it is difficult not to reside with the character’s life experience and the many things that life thrown at them. While, not entirely touching and overtly emotional as these kind of films can be, there is no doubting that “The Broken Circle Breakdown” is the kind of film that stays with you and leaves you heart wrenched as the credits roll. This is an accomplished and detailed film that shows plenty of life’s brutal realities. (Neo 2014)

I rated it 7.5/10

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