The Broken Circle Breakdown

The serious illness of a child is always going to be a tough subject to tackle, and Belgium film (in Flemish), The Broken Circle Breakdown, pushes the emotional buttons you’d expect. Luckily, it resists the temptation to descend into too much maudlin self-indulgence and it deserves the accolades it’s received, including being Belgium’s official entry into the 2014 Oscars’ foreign film category.

Director and co-adaptor (it was originally a play) Felix van Groeningen has assembled a brilliant cast, with Johann Heldenbergh and Veerle Baetens as Didier and Elise giving beautiful, heart-rending performances. We meet them when they’re dealing with the devastating fact that their young daughter, Maybelle (Nell Cattrysse), has cancer. Scenes of the little girl receiving debilitating treatment in hospital are interspersed with flashbacks of when free spirits Didier and Elise met, had a passionate affair, and found out they were having a baby. These contrast starkly with the present, as their individual responses to the sad situation are out of sync with each other.

Perhaps surprisingly, American bluegrass music figures heavily, with Didier being a passionate fan and a performer of it with his band. Elise, a tattoo artist whose elaborately tattooed body becomes a character in itself, is converted to the music and ends up singing with her lover in some highly entertaining musical scenes featuring lots of hairy men with beards. 

Editing by Nico Leunen has to be mentioned, with the constant flashes back and forward accelerating into a puzzle towards the end where we’re not quite sure in which order scenes are playing out until the dramatic climax. There’s no getting away from it – you should bring a few tissues to this movie – and you might find yourself being grateful your child is healthy and not caring about life’s little irritations as you leave the cinema. 

By Vicki Englund