In 2005, Fabrice Du Welz released Calvaire The Ordeal, distinctly placing him within the Belgian Gothic style during the period of Euro-extreme cinema. Ever since that gruesome gripper, Du Welz seems to have maintained his stride throughout his patchy career. As of now, he arrives at Venice as a director and co-writer of what initially looks like a promising true crime horror procedural. It’s somewhat based on the life of a Belgian serial killer and child rapist, Marc Dutroux. His case stirred outrage in Belgium, not only due to the ruthless nature of the crimes, but also because the various law enforcement agencies had, due to their bureaucracy, incompetence, inter-agency disputes, and turf wars, allowed him to roam free for what seemed to be years.
This film explores an interesting premise which has a mix of bitter tension, anxiety, and an upbeat twist of nauseating black comedy. Although the premise as a whole is captivating, there is one major flaw: it is too long. This film travels for a long time before rather needlessly plunging into murky waters of deep state controversy. Moreover, the drama lacks adequate rhetoric, resources, and captivating performances to make the narrative plausible or engaging.
The director Du Welz envisions the character of Paul, a young gendarmerie officer, as a hot-headed cop which is portrayed by French actor Antony Bajon. Along with the rest of the country, he is paralyzed with shock at the heartless kidnapping of two teenagers and begins putting his life into detective work which is where he finally starts demonstrating zest unlike some of his lazy colleagues. His commanding officer, Laurent Lucas, is also present donning an outlandish eyepatch (removed without explanation in the last scene) and inexplicable opera ghost facial scars that are meant to show some kind of selfless valor his character died for), Paul’s superior is played by the indomitable Laurent Lucas sporting the Phantom-of-the-opera facial injuries which are meant to suggest some heroic act of self-injury). Paul gets assigned to the surveillance operation Maldoror (perhaps named after the character in Lautreamont’s surrealist masterpiece Les Chants De Maldoror), with the main goal being to keep surveillance on the central suspect a well-known convicted pedophile and abuser, portrayed by impressive European movie villain Sergi López.
Still, Paul is trying to make sense of and is infuriated by his bosses’ wait-and-see approaches. In the background, he is set to wed a girl from a Sicilian family, which adds a bit of depth and intrigue to Paul’s character, who, even in another intricate yet somewhat heavy-handed and not fully believable detail, is presumed to come from a family of criminals himself.
Like other filmmakers, López provides some loud and over-the-top nods to the horror genre with The Silence of the Lambs and Nosferatu, whereas López’s presence in a grotesque but climactic scene is far too reminiscent of Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth.
When Paul and his lax partner attempt to dupe a female officer from a different precinct to hand over a confidential document containing the different vehicle identification numbers related to the suspect, their absurd plan is that the partner asks the woman outside for a smoke in a suggestive manner while Paul attempts to reach through the window and lift the paper off her desk, only to dramatically shatter the glass along with the partition. This moment is not only bizarre but appears comically real in a sense stranger than fiction.
The rest of the time, the movie is all about Paul’s increasing obsession with the case, which he is certain connects to something bigger an international child molesting circle whose clients funnel supplemental income through blackmail and extortion. But through most of the movie, there is no clear direction; the conspiracy theories emerge when the writers run out of drama, and I worry the leading man of such potential was not given the material he needed. Still, his frantic panic does instill some sense of fear.
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