22nd of May (2011)
Strong themes and brief nudity
| Director: | Koen Mortier |
| Actors: | Vincent Gallo, Anna Levine, Miranda Rhyne, Charlotte Eve Blythe |
Life is a routine of little more than tedium for Sam, a blue collar security guard in Belgium. That all changes the morning a suicide bomber enters the shopping centre Sam patrols and blows it to smithereens. In the carnage, he does his best to retrieve dying victims from the smouldering ruins. The delirium, however, proves too much and Sam evacuates, running until he falls down with exhaustion. The shock of this experience appears to transport the security guard beyond the realms of possibility as he ghosts through the city, a netherworld emptied of the living. Eventually, Sam comes across one of the victims and then another. He soon discovers the unfulfilled hopes and dreams of each, are stories that runs parallel with his own. But these phantasms can’t prepare Sam for a final confrontation in which he will question the thresholds of existence and the role he has been willing to play. DUTCH LANGUAGE WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES
| Status: | Normal |
|---|---|
| Run time: | 99mins |
| Origin: | BELGIUM |
| Aspect Ratio: | 1.85:1 |
| Run Time: | 99mins |
|---|---|
| File Size (Approx): | 0.9 GB |
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Member Reviews (4)
4 Member
Reviews
Margaret
says
I did not like this movie apart from it being dubbed that is a pain to watch but it was not making sense so I did not watch all of it i could not be bothered with.
Terry
says
Very much a kind of mood piece.
D.M.
says
Described as a Belgian thriller, this film is one that cinephiles (lovers of cinema) will really appreciate. It begins slowly and the audience might wonder, well, just what the film-maker is up to, for the main character of Sam is going through his usual morning routine and takes himself to work as a security guard in a shopping mall, all very 'ordinary'. But then! The event that changes everything, and it couldn't be more dramatic. It's what happens after the event that is shocking, moving and a thing of wonder. Basically, it's a film about the human condition and there are wonderful subtleties which might be more greatly understood by Belgian film-goers as something to do with cultural 'soul', but nonetheless this film, regardless that it is not spoken in English, but subtitled, is one of those films that will haunt after it has ended. This film is quite beautiful and quite perfect in itself. It will shock yes, and the first three minutes or so of the disk are devoted to what happens in the 'event' via a music video, but this is included as a kind of prologue to entice the audience into Sam's alter-real world and you want to find out why the event took place. So does Sam, and that's his journey. Fascinating.
11lani
says
Disappointing because I didn't know it was in another language.