Good grief this movie is in a bad mood.
Matthias Schoenaerts gives a valiant performance in this total downer of a film. He plays a man who suffered an unimaginable childhood trauma (I could barely even watch the scene, even without it being super explicit) that has left him sterile as an adult, and goes about overcompensating for his feelings of male inadequacy in ways that are about as pleasant as you would think they are.
In fact, this movie is full of men overcompensating for feelings of male inadequacy, which leaves me to wonder, what the heck is going on in Belgium? Or was in 2011 when this movie was made. But then I think, oh wait, look at all the ways that male inadequacy is poisoning the culture of the United States right now, so maybe this movie was just ahead of its time.
And from this film I learned that the animal hormone black market is a thing in Belgium. Again, who knew? I really could have done with less of the gangster angle, which in all honesty didn't even make complete sense to me. The main character's story arc is compelling enough without all the superfluous plot.
"Bullhead" was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2011 Academy Awards.
Grade: B+
Matthias Schoenaerts gives a valiant performance in this total downer of a film. He plays a man who suffered an unimaginable childhood trauma (I could barely even watch the scene, even without it being super explicit) that has left him sterile as an adult, and goes about overcompensating for his feelings of male inadequacy in ways that are about as pleasant as you would think they are.
In fact, this movie is full of men overcompensating for feelings of male inadequacy, which leaves me to wonder, what the heck is going on in Belgium? Or was in 2011 when this movie was made. But then I think, oh wait, look at all the ways that male inadequacy is poisoning the culture of the United States right now, so maybe this movie was just ahead of its time.
And from this film I learned that the animal hormone black market is a thing in Belgium. Again, who knew? I really could have done with less of the gangster angle, which in all honesty didn't even make complete sense to me. The main character's story arc is compelling enough without all the superfluous plot.
"Bullhead" was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2011 Academy Awards.
Grade: B+