‘The Broken Circle Breakdown’ — 4 stars
Belgian bluegrass musicians deal with a tragic loss. (1:51). Not rated: Language, sexuality. Sunshine.
Tune up your banjos and break out the hankies. This Flemish-language film (Belgium’s push for the foreign Oscar) about bluegrass musicians dealing with tragedy is equal parts toe-tappin’ and tear-jerking.
Spunky, tattooed Elise (Veerle Baetens) and bearded, mellow Didier (Johan Heldenbergh) make beautiful music together. Their idyllic, rustic life gets brighter with the arrival of their daughter. But when she is diagnosed with cancer, the pain proves too much for her parents.
Yet Felix Van Groeningen’s film isn’t just an exercise in morbidity. Using time shifts and narrative loops, “Broken Circle Breakdown” becomes something unusual and oddly comforting. This movie has one of the finest final scenes in a movie this year and, if there were justice, Baetens would break out as an international star.
‘Aftermath’ — 3 stars
Brothers in a Polish village discover crimes from World War II. (1:47). NR: Language, violence. Lincoln Plaza, Cinema Village.
Horrible things are just beneath the surface in Wladyslaw Pasikowski’s “Aftermath,” a highly unsettling look at lingering prejudice and collective guilt.
When a Polish farmer discovers Jewish tombstones beneath an abandoned road, he begins collecting them in a field, feeling obligated to honor them in some way. His brother, visiting from America, tries to mediate with the annoyed townsfolk, including older members who would much rather not dig up the past.
The film, which has caused great tumult in Poland (the director has been all but called a traitor), is a tale of a rural community hoping to keep the crimes of its past buried. It is loosely based on actual events. What keeps the film so fascinating is how even its protagonists are greatly flawed. While certainly upsetting, “Aftermath” takes a look at the dangers inherent in an abundance of truth.
Jordan Hoffman
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