Open Air | De Helaasheid Der Dingen
The story of young Gunther Strobbe whose turbulent youth is spent in the company of his alcohol-saturated father and uncles. Based on the bestselling novel by Dimitri Verhulst.
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.