The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012)

Elise and Didier fall in love at first sight, in spite of their differences. He talks, she listens. He's a romantic atheist, she's a religious realist. When their daughter becomes seriously ill, their love is put on trial.

Director:

Felix van Groeningen

Writers:

Johan Heldenbergh (play), Mieke Dobbels (play)

Stars:

Veerle Baetens, Johan Heldenbergh, Nell Cattrysse

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 37 wins & 26 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Johan Heldenbergh	...	Didier Bontinck / Monroe
Veerle Baetens	...	Elise Vandevelde / Alabama
Nell Cattrysse	...	Maybelle
Geert Van Rampelberg	...	William
Nils De Caster	...	Jock
Robbie Cleiren	...	Jimmy (as Robby Cleiren)
Bert Huysentruyt	...	Jef
Jan Bijvoet	...	Koen
Sofie Sente
Ruth Beeckmans	...	(as Ruth Beekmans)
Jan Hammenecker	...	Doctor
Blanka Heirman	...	Denise
Kirsten Pieters
Yves Degryse
Dominique Van Malder

Storyline

Elise and Didier fall in love at first sight. She has her own tattoo shop and he plays the banjo in a bluegrass band. They bond over their shared enthusiasm for American music and culture, and dive headfirst into a sweeping romance that plays out on and off stage - but when an unexpected tragedy hits their new family, everything they know and love is tested. An intensely moving portrait of a relationship from beginning to end, propelled by a soundtrack of foot-stomping bluegrass, The Broken Circle Breakdown is a romantic melodrama of the highest order.

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Plot Keywords:

bluegrass music | male full frontal nudity | bluegrass | atheist | tattoo | 

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Taglines:

Sometimes love can conquer fate. Sometimes not.

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Genres:

Drama | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Trivia

Official submission of Belgium to the Oscars 2014 best foreign language film category.

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Quotes

Elise Vandevelde: Life is NOT generous.

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Connections

Features Mega Mindy (2006)

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Soundtracks

Cowboy Man
Written by Lyle Lovett
Performed by The BCB Band

User Reviews

Refreshingly Different

This is definitely one of those films that is best seen with as little prior knowledge as possible. I saw The Broken Circle Breakdown at a small cinema in Plymouth with only a vague idea that it had something to do with bluegrass music, of which I knew hardly anything. The music was actually very good but the film is far from a story about Belgian musicians playing American music. In fact, this is a fairly simple tale and, although told in a interesting way, there isn't an awful lot going on. However, what this delightful film manages to do brilliantly is throw up some big questions on topics such as love, life & belief that really get you thinking.

The past-present-future style works well to gradually unfold the details of what is happening. I found that this added very much to the tension and emotion of the film, not unlike Incendies (2010) which, although very different in subject matter, had a similar feel. Broken Circle is not as 'heavy' as Incendies and even has several smile-worthy moments to balance out the intensity.

I can see why some people might be upset by certain anti-religious aspects of the film but I thinks it's healthy for beliefs to be challenged. Similarly, some people seem to have been annoyed by the time-line jumping about but I think this actually works to great effect, especially if you don't know anything about the story beforehand. Overall, I would highly recommend Broken Circle; it's refreshing to see something genuinely different that generates real feelings for the characters and stays with you for more than ten minutes after the ending! 8/10

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official Site

Country:

Belgium Netherlands

Language:

Flemish English Dutch

Release Date:

10 October 2012 (Belgium)

Also Known As:

The Broken Circle Breakdown

Filming Locations:

Ghent, East Flanders, Flanders, Belgium

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,100, 3 November 2013

Gross USA:

$175,058

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$5,990,754

Company Credits

Production Co:

Menuet Producties, Topkapi Films, Belgacom

Technical Specs

Runtime:

111 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1