The Broken Circle Breakdown is Belgium’s Oscar Submission for 2013. A brilliant film that perfectly combines a romantic love story; a challenging relationship between two ideologically opposed artists, with a life-changing event that may break them both!
Elise is a tattoo artist and Didier plays banjo in a bluegrass band. Playing the love-struck duo, Veerle Baetens and Johan Heldenbergh have won numerous film festival awards for their full-throttle performances. They match the intensity of the emotional-wrenching work of Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine (2010).
The American bluegrass music is used by director, Felix Van Groeningen to inter-cut the time-warping journey through this fraught relationship. The cinematography and editing enable the audience to never lose sight of where we are in the story. The music was such a big hit that the performers in the film actually toured Belgium as a band performing the songs from the film!
What a gem! Wonderful performances: brilliantly-shot and marvelously-edited, with a complex story that will make you weep but feel grateful for the experience of this emotional journey. The Broken Circle Brakedown is a winner.
Rating: 5 beers
Bechdel Rating: There are only two female characters that speak but they do discuss important issues and rarely focus on the man. A+
Director:
Writers:
Johan Heldenbergh (play), Mieke Dobbels (play), 2 more credits »
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