Ex Drummer

A very raw movie that explains the life in a certain category of the population. Some people will be shocked watching this movie but this is reality. That kind of people exists. Be prepared when you see this movie. It's about racists, homophobia, disabled persons, violence, poverty, mistreating children. But there is also humor,lot of sarcasms. The movie was filmed in Ostend, my birth town and the place really fits to that movie. The soundtrack is also great. If you have the chance to see that movie don't hesitate. It give you a realistic view how some people live in the 21 th century. It also give you the chance to learn about Herman Brusselmans, the writer of the book.

The discussion about this movie is wide. Some people hate the movie, some people adore it. Probably it will be a movie which will be much more popular in time. For me it was one roller-coaster of laughing and an experience i wont forget for a long time. At the same time i saw people leaving the cinema because of the rough, unpolished use of language. I have been living in Belgium for a few years, which is an advantage to understand the humor of the used dialect. The brilliant thing about the movie is that it is a one on one translation of the writer Herman Brusselmans. I saw the movie and asked myself the question, how would i have directed this book differently. I couldn't find an answer. This is Belgina cinema on his best. A fabulous devastating trip.

There needs to be films made that have this type of shock effect to your mental and emotional system, but it took me three years to work it out. I watched it at the Gothenburg Film Festival and my immediate reaction was: "Heck, this shouldn't have been shown in public, I am now permanently damaged in my mind and in my soul. Help me." Now, however, after a few years of pondering the images and issues presented to me and how it was done, I must say that it is a masterpiece, utterly destroying previous conceptions of what the world is like. With great "wit" and "style" (I will refine these points!) the story is told in a rapid tempo and with no loose ends and no censoring. The "style" thing: I propose that this is realism taken to a new level, with the really, really shitty reality of these low-life misfits shown at its worst, both from within and from without as is should be presented, uncensored like a bad nightmare, but presented a if it were true. And this is the shocking part: the movie makes you feel like it is true. This is sort of balanced with the "wit" part; burlesque, ironic and totally black humour; to make a soup so thick it can't be swallowed without being chewed really well, and when you chew it you just want to spit it out because the taste makes you want to throw up. 9/10, would have got full points if it had actually made me throw up.

Based on a story by infamous Belgian novelist Herman Brusselmans, Ex Drummer is a dismal, nihilistic trip into the world of three handicapped gentlemen who want to start a rock band.

The local battle of the bands is coming up and Koen, Jan & Ivan want to participate, the only problem is they don't have a drummer. They soon decide to ask local author Dries to join their band, thinking his celebrity status may give them a better chance at winning. Seeing as all the members have their own particular handicaps, they ask Dries what his is - it seems he can't play the drums.

The band is a motley crew indeed; vocalist / guitarist Koen is a horny, skinhead rapist with a horrible lisp, bassist Jan is gay with a paralysed right arm and an obsessive mother complex, and rhythm guitarist Ivan is a deaf junkie who treats his wife and child like sh!t. Dries accepts the invitation to join their band purely for his own amusement and in the hope that he'll get a story idea from it. They name their band The Feminists.

Ex Drummer overflows with glorious politically incorrect offensiveness: rape, pedophilia, rampant misogyny, racism, homophobia, infant death, incest… there's really something for everyone. Although with the misanthropic attitude and overall bleak atmosphere coexists a sense of the surreal and an undertone of pitch black comedy. For instance the scene where Big Dick, a member of a rival band with a horse-sized appendage, forces his wife to show her wrecked vagina to Dries, the two men literally walk around in her womb as Big Dick points out the tunnel he's carved out with his mammoth member. The film doesn't shy away from graphic violence either, particularly in the last quarter - there's some rather gruesome death scenes and an extremely bloody rape / castration.

Ex Drummer is quite technically accomplished and visually stunning at times too, bizarre sequences such as the one mentioned above don't really seem out of the ordinary when Koen the skinhead rapist lives upside down in his blood-splattered house, and some scenes are shot completely backwards. The camera-work and editing are utterly frenzied - especially during the final concert - with certain sequences being superimposed one on top of the another. The fantastic soundtrack deserves a mention here too, the film opens with the awesome Lighting Bolt track 2 Morro Morro Land and continues on with songs that complement the often harsh imagery on display. The bands in the film are actually quite decent also, they all have a similar lo-fi gutter-punk sound, and The Feminists do a wicked cover of DEVO's Mongoloid.

A highly impressive feature film debut from Koen Mortier and a must see for fans of transgressive cinema.

"Ex Drummer" starts out great. The setting and plot are so wacky it's a delight. The characters alternately amuse and shock you with their actions. The movie has been described as a "Trainspotting" for the new millennium and while the comparison isn't totally fitting, "Ex Drummer" shares the run down cast of freaks with the Ewan McGregor vehicle.

The first half is totally brilliant, original, refreshing and with a great soundtrack as the icing on the cake. In the second half, however, the movie loses some of its wit. It's there that you realize that "Ex Drummer" isn't really going anywhere, although it all started so promising. Characters just hit, abuse and swear at each other for no apparent reason and it all becomes a bit tiring.

The movie's ending is rather anti-climatic. The credits role and you're left puzzled, feeling that this could have made a much bigger impact on you, if the story had gone somewhere else. Maybe that's not the movie's fault but the fault of the novel, which it is based upon.

In the end "Ex Drummer" is a refreshing example of non-American film-making. It will leave you with your mouth open more than just a few times. Unfortunately, the beginning promises more than the rest of the movie can keep. Still, "Ex Drummer" is a must-see. One of the most unusual movies of the past ten years.