Fabrice Du Welz, "Calvaire" (2004)

Upon seeing the thriller Calvaire my first inclination was to find it strange that someone from Belgium would make such a film. In fact I thought (because the dialogue was in French) that director Fabrice Du Welz was a Frenchman. Here in the United States, people have all kinds of assumptions and asociations regarding our cousins across the sea. They are thought to be snobbish and effete, with a hearty disdain for all things American. The other side of that coin is that those of us who are less proud of our country admire Continental Europeans for their cutural sophistication. The films that come out of that region tend to be nuanced, subtle and intelligent. They require patience and an ability to see beyond the moralistic tones of black and white categorizations that Americans are so fond of. Additionally, many European movies aren't tied up by a neat little bow offering up a package of obvious resolution. There are often open endings.

So regardless of whether its from France or Belgium, it was a bit of a shock for me to see the influences of Calvaire. There is an established tradition in American film of constructing horror out of the city-dweller's fear of rural people. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Series, The Hills Have Eyes, Wendigo, Deliverance and a multitude of other nasties feature plots about cityfolk confronting the alien culture in the backwoods. The common thread of these movies is the set of stereotypes used to represent both groups. Country people are represented as bestial and deformed idiots, and ultimately prove to be as dangerous as they are ignorant of "civilized" ways. The urban visitors are always a bit arrogant and condescending, and they are shown to deserve what happens to them due to their own dismissive attitudes.

This is exactly the case with our protagonist in Calvaire. Laurent Lucas (who is indisputedly a Frenchman) plays a lounge singer who commits the cardinal sin within this genre- he gets lost in the woods. We shouldn't be surprised by this setup. In fact the American trailer establishes the premise with,"LOST IN THE WOODS. WHAT'S THE WORST THAT CAN HAPPEN?" I would have to asume you can already imagine. But for those of us that are still stumped, the filmmakers have provided their own little piece of advice for finding the answer ("ASK THE PIG.") So right about now, the satire is obvious, right?

Indeed Lucas' character undergoes all manner of indignities. And there are referential homages to the films I listed above as influences. If you've seen those films, the visual allusions will be quite clear. Stuck at an inn, Lucas gets sadly mistaken for "someone else" in one of the oddest onscreen examples of psychological transference I've ever seen. He makes several attempts to escape, and these form the bulk of the later action. But unlike with his American counterparts, Du Walz takes his sweet old time setting the scene. He pays attention to little things, and establishes the personalities of the characters by showing, rather than telling. Indeed that's where he's not willing to give up the European filmmaking approach. He also spends a lot of time making art out of the atmospheric elements of his settings. That makes all the set-up that much more compelling. Sure there are going to be those viewers who are used to immediate and extreme gore, and characters so stock that they are immediately recognizable. But that type of viewer is already going to resist the subtitles, so there's no real loss here.

This is an amazingly creepy film. There are some touches of dark humor- but rather than give the viewer a break, they tend to unsettle one further. The English translation of the title is "the ordeal", and to a large degree this is a fair representation of the experience of watching this film. I'm sicker than average, and so I was more amused than many will be. Look for a scene involving the hillbillies in their drinking spot- I thought it demonstrated particular genius. The madness displayed at times is truly palpable. In many respects Calvaire stays true to the culture-clash formula described above. But ironically I felt that this film served as another sort of allegory. There's a hint of wily commentary beneath the surface. To understand what I mean- substitute Europe for the main character, and the United States for the villagers.