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Marc Stevens is a successful small-time performer who decides
to leave familiar surroundings to go on the road. He is traversing
some small backwater roads in Belgium when a heavy fog descends
and his van cuts out and refuses to start. A stranger leads
him to a man called Bartel who accommodates him in a room
in his cottage, but warns Marc not to go into the village.
When Bartel hears Marc sing it reminds him of his wife Gloria,
also a singer, who left him years before. Pretty soon it becomes
obvious that Bartel is unhinged. He beats Marc savagely, crudely
shaves his hair and puts him in one of Gloria's old dresses,
acting as if she had returned. When Marc escapes he is soon
recaptured, but some of the other villagers see Bartel bringing
him back, and assault the cottage. It turns out that there
was a love-triangle involving another man, and he wants Gloria
back. Needless to say, all of the villagers are lonely, crave
love and, from Marc's point of view, are more than slightly
deranged...
I
must admit to having been in two minds initially about The
Ordeal (or Calvaire, to be precise). On the face
of it this French film, shot in a region of Belgium known
intimately by the director, doesn't appear to have sufficient
events to sustain it - particularly in the first third. However,
watching the earnest interview with Fabrice Du Welz does explain
the reasoning behind certain unusual decisions. For example,
the build-up is purposefully slow, there is a total lack of
music score, and the sympathy is placed with the aggressor
rather than the victim, who here is an emotionless wretch
(or "empty box" as the writer/director describes Marc).
Deliverance
and Straw Dogs have been cited as influences on this
script, but the most obvious connections are with Last
House on the Left and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
As Fabrice Du Welz's first love of film is horror, the similarities
cannot be coincidental. In fact, there is a moment from The
Ordeal which is lifted directly from TTCM. It's
the family scene when Bartel celebrates with simpleton Boris
after a lost puppy is found (he actually returns with a calf!).
They both mimic the whimpers of Marc Stevens, and there's
even an extreme close-up of the victim's eye.
It
would be an injustice to write this film off as a direct copy
of other better offerings, because The Ordeal most
definitely has its own identity. There are some nice set-pieces,
the best of which has an unspoken macabre dance performed
by the all-male villagers to the accompaniment of an off-kilter-sounding
piano. This is a good example of how something can be both
sinister and humorous. On the subject of the unseen Gloria,
the villagers' immediate acceptance that Marc is the missing
woman makes you wonder if the original Gloria was male or
female. This sorry community is either very lonely or collectively
blind! Certainly, they are all crazy.
Unless
I have unfinished packaging, Tartan DVD (who have produced
some excellent releases, particularly from East Asia) have
managed to get the special features wrong again. Don't look
for the Director's commentary, because it's not there. What
we do get is an interesting 26-minute interview with him in
English, during which he barely keeps his enthusiasm in check.
There's no "Making of" Featurette either. Instead
there's a film trailer and a highly entertaining short film,
also by Fabrice Du Welz. In fact, A Wonderful Love (21
mins) was created to prove to himself and to others that he
could carry a feature film. Believe me, this short film is
excellent, funny (to my warped sense of humour) and worth
an extra point alone.
Du
Welz is apparently a new director to film, having come from
the stage. He hedges his bets by explaining that going to
Hollywood would be every filmmaker's dream, but if he did
go there and made a "shitty film" he would no longer have
any power. Well, long may he continue. This is the best French
film I've seen seen Switchblade Romance.
Ty
Power
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