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Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(from the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival)

Directed by: Felix van Groeningen
Starring: Kenneth Vanbaeden, Valentijn Dhaenens, Koen De Graeve, Wouter Hendrickx, Johan Heldenbergh, Bert Haelvoet

“The Misfortunates” tells the tale of Gunther, a troubled Belgian boy born into the underachieving Strobbe family. Home is a small, Flemish town centered on its bars and beer and bicycle races, where the future looks uncertain for the family, labeled by neighbors as no-goods and drunks.

Despite their frightful incompetence, the family is fiercely loyal, led by testosterone-fueled larrikins with a propensity for self-destruction, gambling, drinking, womanizing and general barbarism. Their annual dress-up in drag provides a passage of initiation of sorts, and young Gunther, despite the inevitable, at first manages to somehow avoid that circus.

Shown through bizarre moments of humble, subtle humor and comic sadness, the Strobbe family’s financial and emotional crests and troughs are believed to parallel those of the great rock-‘n’-roller Roy Orbison, and so, when the “Big O” makes his comeback, the Strobbes fill their grocery baskets and buy a new television to take in the event.

The bleak outlook of life lived without a future persists throughout the film, however, and it becomes clear that there is an old adage at work – that is, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Ultimately, the abused becomes the abuser, the ignored grows up to ignore, and so on.

Gunther’s grandmother, despite her present silences, defends the boy from his father, giving the viewer a sense of hope that Gunther will somehow break the cycle, as it is only away from the tribe that each member the next generation will be freed to find his own fortunes and failures.

Adaptated from the book by Dimitri Verhulst, “The Misfortunates” received a CICAE Special Mention at the Festival de Cannes, played the Toronto, São Paulo and Pusan international film festivals, among others, and had closing-night honors at the Munich Film Festival.

The Belgians have a rich recent history in film, punctuated by the successes of the Dardenne brothers’ Palme d’Or-winning efforts, and Felix van Groeningen’s little film about family loyalty and sacrifice is a skillfully crafted, ardent, working-class addition worthy of representing the brewing nation in this year’s race for the best foreign film Oscar.

Photo courtesy of Palm Springs International Film Festival