THE OPINION OF THE “WORLD” – TO SEE
When the fluid, captivating auteur film, abolishing the boundaries between theater and cinema, is “kidnapped” halfway by a crazy story of extraterrestrials, and the main character, a fashionable quadra actor, has no Looking so surprised to discover the capsule, the viewer is entitled to ask: “Where are we? Here we are in the teeming world of Dutchman Alex van Warmerdam.
Born in 1952, coming from the theater and co-founder of the group Hauser Orkater, then of the troupe called The Mexican Dog, the director is known for his surrealist shows, with an overflowing imagination. “AVW” then started a life as a filmmaker with Abel (1986), dynamiting the family order, then The inhabitants (1992), etc No. 10 being, as its title suggests, his tenth film.
The story begins like a strange spinning, the staging, with great precision, installing the feeling of an invisible presence in each shot. Günter (Tom Dewispelaere), theater actor, attractive in his forties, has somewhat confused origins: a child found in the woods at the age of 4, he then grew up in a foster family. He divides his time between rehearsals, at the theater, and his relationship with the actress to whom he gives the reply, Isabel (Anniek Pheifer), who is none other than the companion of the director, Karl, older (Hans Kesting ).
This one is not long in being informed of his misfortune, and takes revenge by reducing the role of Günter, then by deconstructing the part, sowing from day to day a growing perplexity on the plate. Meanwhile, Lizzy (Frieda Barnhard), Günter’s daughter, captures all those moments in her father’s life with her camera.
Explosive finale
Behind the curtain of a house, a man observes everyone’s comings and goings. Until the day when, crossing the city, Günter is approached by a stranger who whispers something in his ear. And there, No. 10 takes another, most unexpected turn. Either you get annoyed that a rather erudite script hands you a second ticket for a fantasy with an unidentified flying object, or you allow yourself to be tempted by new paths that French cinema takes so little, anxious not to transgress categories – drama, comedy, action movie, etc.
We allow ourselves to recommend the second option, for its nerve, its letting go and its explosive finale. Without revealing the journey, let’s say that it’s the story of a man who, certainly a little annoyed by real life – that of the first part of the film, with its betrayals and its backlashes – does not disdain think about somewhere else.
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