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Event
ISTANBUL
Dir. Marc Didden
Belgium, 1985
In English, English subtitles for some Dutch/French
Opening with a warm and familiar folk instrumental, this film presents itself as a road movie with the dubious goal of doing business in Istanbul. The friendship that forms between a maniacal Martin (Brad Dourif) and his chosen pal Willy (Dominique Deruddere) is rife with equal parts Stockholm syndrome and fascination. And Dourif is admittedly fascinating: a particular eccentric with a West Virginia drawl and the raw intensity of an artist or a psychopath.
The two hitch a ride with Joseph (Max in BRUSSELS BY NIGHT), a country car mechanic with designs to make the two ruffians into semi-professional kidnappers. Martin and Willy accept the gig and make off to Southern France to nap Josephs young daughter from her mother and new boyfriend. This task wrenchingly reveals the Martins darker demons and the full picture of how he arrived in Belgium in the first place. Didden doesnt allow his two protagonists to fall into caricature: their complex and sometimes uncontrollable motivations are available to absorb and contemplate.
A distinct film mood inhabited Belgium in the 1980s, established by a small group of auteur filmmakers who drew from the same pool of actors and a shared tone of existential (masculine) ruin. Marc Didden, a rock critic who spent a lot of time talking to Frank Zappa and The Ramones, also created several murderer-portraits: BRUSSELS BY NIGHT and ISTANBUL. The engagement with neurosis and self-loathing saves these films from being a total glorification of the 20th century creep, although they also walk the line. Brad Dourif and François Beukelaers give powerful performances that generate disgust but also curiosity, where perversion and bigotry are arguably tools to hide a more essential grotesque. Cast in these films are Belgian director Dominique Deruddere (who made a biopic of Bukowski in '89) and actress/director Ingrid de Vos. The fascination with murderers and predators seem here, as elsewhere, a way of probing more deeply into ambient urges and uncontrollable fantasies.
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LocationSPECTACLE THEATER (View)
124 South 3rd Street
Brooklyn, NY 11249
United States
Categories
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: No |
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