The Misfortunates

Colour, 35 mm
Belgium, Netherlands, 2009, 108 min
Section: Focus on Belgian Film

Synopsis

The Misfortunates, based on the bestselling novel by Dimitri Verhulst, tells the story of young Gunther Strobbe whose extremely turbulent youth is spent in the village of Reetverdegem in the company of his alcohol-saturated father and uncles. Years later, the adult Gunther, who now writes for a living, looks back over this early period. Not with nostalgia, but with something more akin to bitterness and sadness, since young Gunther gradually comes to the realisation that he doesn’t want simply to follow in the footsteps of the older and, frankly, lost generation. But this choice will be a painful one and, without the affections of the tribe, the big, wide world can be lonely and cold. Benefitting from naturalistic performances and from an energetic narrative style driven by dynamic camera work, director Felix van Groeningen succeeds remarkably well in capturing that paradoxical balance between wanton euphoria and quiet despair, vulgarity and tenderness.

About the director

Felix van Groeningen (b. 1977, Ghent) studied at the KASK film school in Ghent. His acclaimed graduation film 50cc was co-produced with the Victoria theatre. Working subsequently in both film and theatre, van Groeningen also shot several music videos. In 2004 he made his impressive debut with the raw but romantic love story Steve + Sky. In 2007 he followed this up with With Friends Like These (Dagen zonder lief), about a group of friends in their twenties who realise gradually that they are growing apart. His third film, The Misfortunates, which world premiered in 2009 during the Quinzaine des réalisateurs at Cannes, marked his first direction of a book adaptation. It is worth noting that van Groeningen made his three features with the same producer (Dirk Impens), the same cameraman (Ruben Impens) and the same editor (Nico Leunen).