Stars: Matthias Schoenaerts, Jeroen Perceval, Jeanne Dandoy, Barbara Sarafian, Tibo Vandenborre
Director: Michael R. Roskam
Oscar History: 1 nomination (Best Foreign Language Film-Belgium)
Snap Judgment Ranking: 4/5 stars
The foreign film category at the Oscars is a mixed bag at best. For every The White Ribbon sensation, there's a half dozen Monsieur Lazhar predictable, boring feel-good films. So when i heard that Bullhead was a non-traditional pick at the Oscars, I rejoiced. What I didn't realize was just how non-traditional the film was-violent, sexual, and psychologically shattering, it's the sort of film that Oscar ignores in all categories, much less just this one. Thankfully, he made an exception here and we are gifted with a truly mesmerizing piece of cinema for the next film in the Oscar Viewing Project.(SPOILERS ARE A-COMING) The film, after a slightly confusing start (with the exception of Schoenaerts, I was unfamiliar with any of the actors and had to adjust myself to who was who, which always causes me to have a quick "memorize their faces" sort of moment in the beginning of foreign films), sets up the premise-we are given a cattle supplier who gets in over his head with the mafia (Schoenaerts), and goes on a vengeance mission against an old foe after seeing a former friend (Perceval).
What we learn as the film progresses is that Schoenaerts character, as a child, was assaulted by an older bully and lost his testicles after being struck by a brick (yeah, told you it was out of the Academy's traditional wheelhouse). As a result, Schoenaerts overcompensates badly, becoming a hyper-masculine, hormone-taking mass of muscle and anger. It's a great, large performance that is similar to several other hyper-masculine roles that have been taken on by the likes of Tom Hardy and Mickey Rourke recently, but Schoenaerts character has a feminine side to himself as well that he's not allowing to come out-he's sensitive, and cares for the sister of the bully who tortured him (who, as it turns out, is something akin to a vegetable toward the end of the movie), and gives a speech toward the end of the movie that shows how he's worried that through this entire experience, he's also lost his humanity and ability to have compassion or take care of his fellow man. It's an interesting contradiction, and is by far the best part of the movie.
The rest of the movie comes and goes in odd black comic spurts (with two mechanics doing a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern act about what to do with a car that's evidence in a murder trial, a schtick that gets old rather quickly) and weirdly unfulfilled storylines, primarily that of Perceval. Perceval's character witnessed the tragic events, and wanted to testify, but wasn't able to do to his father's refusal, and has grown into a police snitch who happens to be gay (and is constantly coming on to one of the police officers he's working for, who strings him along and ultimately causes him to betray the cops). But the problem is that we never really learn what drove him to become a snitch, or what his life as a gay man in this hyper-masculine world was like. Perceval does a decent enough job, but his storyline and performance just can't cut it when compared to the epic heights that Schoenaerts is reaching.
I can't help but feel that this film could have been the masterpiece that, say, its competition at the Oscars A Separation was were it in the hands of a more seasoned director of the art of sexual identity, like Pedro Almodovar, but I have to commend Roskam for creating a visually stunning and brave first film, even with its shortcomings.
What were your thoughts on Bullhead? Are you excited, like I, about what Roskam could reach with a few more films under his belt? And what do you think of Schoenaerts slow crawl into more mainstream movies in the United States?
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