Get the tissues ready: The Broken Circle Breakdown is a weapons-grade weepie that earns every tear
THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN: This weapons-grade weepie earns each and every tear it is guaranteed to squeeze from the driest of eyeballs.
NO matter how hard you think you are, you better get set to be softened up, and then some.
This weapons-grade weepie — from the backblocks of Belgium, of all places — earns each and every tear it is guaranteed to squeeze from the driest of eyeballs.
Aiding and abetting The Broken Circle Breakdown’s ability to lead its audience into a foggy state of sorrow is the importance country and western music plays in the narrative.
What to watch?: More of the latest movie reviews from Leigh Paatsch
The story centres on a young Flemish couple — bluegrass musicians by trade — whose child contracts a terminal disease just as their lives are seemingly going perfectly.
I’ll leave out all the poignant and possibly tragic details of what transpires once we have gotten to know (and indeed become quite concerned for) this fragile family unit.
That’s the job of talented writer-director Felix van Groeningen, and the way he relays all need-to-know and need-to-feel information in this moving affair is never anything but impressive.
Once the viewer grasps the sudden time-shifts van Groeningen has incorporated into this tale — flashforwards are every bit as important as the flashbacks here — the film has well and truly cast its spell.
Unrelentingly bleak, but grittily beautiful stuff. Wonderful live music sequences (some of which recall the soundtrack to the Coen brothers’ classic O Brother, Where Art Thou?) sweeten an otherwise uncompromising deal.
THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN (MA15+)
Director: Felix van Groeningen (Steve + Sky)
Starring: Johan Heldenbergh, Veerle Baetens, Nell Cattrysse
Verdict: Three-and-a-half stars. The sad sound of hearts breaking and toes tapping
A-lister shines in ‘bonkers’ Aussie thriller
With an unhinged Nicolas Cage doing what he does best, Aussie thriller The Surfer will get in your head and stay there.
Verdict on Marvel’s new blockbuster
With a star-studded cast including Florence Pugh and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Marvel’s newest release Thunderbolts has been the subject of a lot of hype. But is it worth it?