22nd of May (2010) User Reviews

Not punk rock!

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 4 March 2012]

If you have seen the "Ex Drummer" (the directors previous movie) and go into this movie with certain expectations, you will be disappointed. While the other one was punk rock at it's finest, this is more to the tune of classical music. I'm talking about the pace here. Even the storytelling seems "ancient" (if you want to call it that) and very slow moving overall.

But is that necessarily a bad thing? I don't think so. While I did expect something else I was intrigued by this movie. Not enough to really like it (it could have done with a faster pace), but it is Art House that is as silent as it is loud. You will understand when you watch it (if you watch it that is). The movie has great cinematography and a great lead actor. And it has a feeling to it, that you can't really describe. But it's also not commercially accessible

Death at the shopping mall

[myriamlenys · 6/10 · 13 March 2022]

A security guard stands watch, insuring the safety and security of a shopping mall. This is not a particularly taxing job, since most of the visitors just want to shop, hang out with their friends or deliver some merchandise. Then suddenly a devastating explosion rips through the building, courtesy of the one visitor who entered with evil intent. Having panicked and run away, the security guard now meets with victims who blame him for his lack of vigilance...

Is "22 mei" a drama ? One could say "yes". Is it a horror movie ? That's also a viable interpretation. Or one could go for a slightly different answer, by classifying it as a late entry into that very Belgian genre known as magical realism. Whatever it is, it's a trippy, elusive movie with both a labyrinthine structure and a labyrinthine storyline. A variety of dead or dying people look back on their lives, comment on their suffering or analyze the circumstances of the great crime that wiped out much of the shopping mall. Some of them even try to avert the suicide attack by reasoning with the perpetrator, a young man with a bonkers motive. (Watch out for a fine, properly disquieting performance by Titus De Voogdt.)

A good idea for an exam question on the cinema of the Low Countries : Do these phantoms have an own, independent existence, on whatever plane of being, or are they just figments of a guilt-ridden imagination ? Discuss !

By now you will have guessed that this is not the happiest movie ever made. Instead it is a nightmarish reflection on themes such as loss, loneliness and the fragility of both life and normalcy. The movie also asks questions about personal and professional responsibility, especially with regard to people such as policemen or security guards. Could or should our security guard protagonist have averted disaster ? But surely one can't go around stopping any young person with a hoodie or a glum expression ?

There's much to like about "22 mei", such as its originality, its ambition and the quality of its performances. But in my humble opinion the complex, labyrinthine nature of the movie keeps it from fulfilling its emotional potential. The whole might have worked better as a far more conventional movie.

Two highlights, if that's the correct term with regard to such a relentlessly downbeat work : the completely unexpected explosion which stuns and deafens the security guard ; and the ending, which shows fire-bright destruction swallowing shop after shop.

Art-house cinema at its most extreme

[rubenm · 4/10 · 20 November 2010]

This film doesn't have a plot to speak of, it has very little dialogue, it switches from reality to dreamlike sequences of subconscious or imagined events. Most of the time I was wondering what exactly I was watching, how I should interpret the images and what the film maker was trying to tell me.

The 'story' is about a security guard at a shopping center, who survives a bomb explosion and unravels the stories of the other witnesses and victims. The film starts off quite impressively: we see the guard leaving home for work, doing his job and panicking after the explosion. But after that the film slows down, becomes confusing and fails in engaging the viewer. I couldn't help thinking: where does all this nonsense lead us to? There are a few positive points. The locations are superb (we see mostly ugly and timeless cityscapes) and the cinematography is beautiful. And you could argue that this is an intriguing movie which invites the audience not to take everything immediately for granted. In this respect, some people might enjoy it. But I suspect this is a small group.

Boom - goes my patience

[Plueschdoktor · 3/10 · 19 August 2011]

It's not that I wouldn't appreciate slow-paced movies. As a huge fan of Asian esp. Japanese films I am used to watch people standing around for half an hour doing nothing (e.g. the wonderful 3 1/2 hours "Eureka" by Shinji Aoyama). But as "22nd of may" opened showing the boring start in a boring every-day life of a bored protagonist - a guard preparing for his work in a shopping-mall - I already feared for the rest of the movies runtime.

Then the bomb exploded and I thought "OK. That explains why before we had to watch a boring guy doing boring things in every boring detail. Because there's nothing stronger to kick your ass than an exploding bomb." The guy then immediately came to rescue, panicked and scrammed which got my full compassion! But after that the victims started talking to him. And they talked. And talked. And talked. Well, what I can say. They talked me out of the cinema after 30 minutes.

Mind me, the basic idea is great and deserves 8 stars for sounding philosophical, intriguing, and passionate so your mind may go Boom. 22nd of May unfortunately let only my patience go Boom and scattered my 8 stars to smithereens, leaving 3 for the good intention.

Making boring things interesting is obviously not given to every director.

A trip through a guilt-ridden mind

[svenverbeecke · 9/10 · 18 November 2010]

Koen Mortier, director of the great "ex-drummer" is back with a very different film. '22 mei' starts with a long traveling shot showing Sam, a security guard in shopping center, and his daily routine. It seems to be just another day like all the others, when suddenly an huge explosion changes the mall into hell. Sam at first tries to help, but confronted with the devastating consequences he runs away.

It is at this point that 22 mei steps away from conventional narration and turns into a mental trip inside Sam's head. Soon he finds himself confronted with the victims of the terrible attack. Some blame him, some ask him why, but all of them have had their lives cut short.

Forgoing easy symbolism or classical logic 22 mei takes you on a intensly cinematographical trip, a trip that in the ends seems to tell you to enjoy life; because you never now when it might end.