Gridlock (2002)
"Fait d'hiver" (original title)

On a cold winter evening a young manager gets stuck in traffic on his way home from work. He takes his brand new mobile to call his wife, not knowing that by doing so he is about to cause irreparable damage.

Director:

Dirk Beliën

Writer:

Johan Verschueren

Stars:

Tom Van Dyck, Ellen Van Cutsem, Aza Declercq

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins.

Cast

Cast overview:
Tom Van Dyck	...	Tim
Ellen Van Cutsem	...	Little girl
Aza Declercq	...	Mother
Kris Swinnen	...	Uncle Wim

Storyline

It's snowing, evening is falling, and traffic on the E17 in Antwerp is gridlocked. Tim, dressed in a suit, driving alone, is impatient, yelling at his radio, popping pills. He decides to try his new mobile phone; he calls home and his daughter answers. He asks for her mommy, and his daughter says that mommy's upstairs with "Uncle Wim." Tim, who knows there's no Uncle Wim in the family, suspects something is rotten in the state of Belgium, so he asks his daughter to do him a favor. She sets down the phone and heads upstairs while he waits impatiently in traffic. After a few minutes, she returns with her report.

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Plot Keywords:

evening | uncle | snowing | belgium | pills | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Short

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Details

Official Sites:

info & pictures Production company site

Country:

Belgium

Language:

Dutch

Release Date:

7 June 2002 (Canada)

Also Known As:

Gridlock

Box Office

Budget:

$80,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Another Dimension of an Idea

Technical Specs

Runtime:

7 min 6 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

Entertaining take on one of those urban legends floating around.

This is well made, a tad ghoulish and darkly humorous, even if it does have what the late writer Damon Knight called an "idiot plot", which means that everyone in it has to be an idiot in order for the plot to work. Good cast, though really only two of them have much to do-the driver (finalist for the Village Idiot of the Year Award) and the little girl serving as catalyst for events. Everyone else is going for a Darwin Award and are spear-carriers otherwise. Decidedly adult in nature, this reminded me for all the world of Special Delivery, a cartoon done by Allison Snowden for the NFBC-different plot, to be sure, but the same mordant wit. Well worth watching, it's been shown on the Sundance Channel on one of their recent Shorts Program compilations. Recommended.