Man Bites Dog

Original title: C'est arrivé près de chez vous

19921992
NC-17NC-17
1h 35min

A film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routine. But complications set in when the film crew lose their objectivity and begin lending a hand.A film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routine. But complications set in when the film crew lose their objectivity and begin lending a hand.A film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routine. But complications set in when the film crew lose their objectivity and begin lending a hand.

7.5/10

37K

Directors
Writers
- Rémy Belvaux(story)
- André Bonzel(screenplay)
- Benoît Poelvoorde(screenplay)
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

Awards
- 6 wins & 5 nominations

Benoît Poelvoorde in C'est arrivé près de chez vous (1992)

Directors
Writers
- Rémy Belvaux(story) (screenplay)
- André Bonzel(screenplay)
- Benoît Poelvoorde(screenplay)
All cast & crew

See production, box office, & company info

A camera crew follows a serial killer/thief around as he exercises his craft. He expounds on art, music, nature, society, and life as he offs mailmen, pensioners, and random people. Slowly he begins involving the camera crew in his activities, and they begin wondering if what they're doing is such a good idea, particularly when the killer kills a rival and the rival's brother sends a threatening letter. —Ed Sutton <esutton@mindspring.com>

dark comedy mockumentary black comedy satire nudity 301 more

Taglines
- A Killer Comedy
Genres
Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)
- Rated NC-17 for strong graphic violence
Parents guide

Trivia
According to an essay André wrote, Ben's family didn't know anything about the plot of the film. Ben's mother and grandparents thought they were filming raw footage of Ben, and had no idea that the footage was going to be used in a film in which Ben is a serial killer. Ben's mother was shocked to see her son behind bars, when she comes to visit him in prison.

Goofs
At the beginning, Benoît says that four times a child's body weight is needed to sink a dead child. However, at the bar where they drink Dead Baby Boys, Benoît asks René for the weight ratio needed to sink a child, to which René replies "Twice," and Benoit says, "Right!"

Quotes
Ben: Once I buried two Arabs in a wall over there... Facing Mecca, of course.

Alternate versions
ENDING SPOILERS - In some versions, the final shot, where everyone dies, lasts until the film runs out of the camera, which leaves a blank white screen after the film slips out of the camera's gate. In other versions, there is a dissolve between the the final shot and the blank screen at a much sooner point--and the viewer does not see the film slip out of the gate. The Criterion Collection edition released in 2002 has the latter version of the final shot.

Connections
Featured in Zomergasten: Episode #12.2 (1999)

Soundtracks
Ice Ice Baby
Written by David Bowie, Earthquake (as Floyd Brown), John Deacon, Mario 'Chocolate' Johnson (as Mario Johnson), Brian May, Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor & Vanilla Ice (as Robert Van Winkle)
Performed by Vanilla Ice
Courtesy of Capitol Records, LLC
Contains a sample of "Under Pressure"
Performed by Queen & David Bowie
Courtesy of Hollywood Records, Inc. for USA & Canada and Courtesy of Island Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

Top review

7/10

good fake-doc

What makes this movie so interesting is not so much the dark and raw atmosphere. It's not the fact that it's gruesome and disgusting. It's that is brought in such a normal realistic way that one actually believes that this could be a normal documentary. It's a beautiful fake-doc that takes an absurd topic and takes it to an extreme level. At a certain point one asks himself: where can it lead from here? What could possibly be a satisfying ending to a story like this. The movie succeeds in bringing this satisfaction fully, and the viewers are left with good discussion material. What if this were true? What if I would take my camera and make a documentary about a murderer?

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