The Broken Circle Breakdown

I knew nothing about The Broken Circle Breakdown, one of the nominees for this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, other than that it was about Belgian bluegrass musicians, certainly a first. But very quickly it becomes apparent that it is a film about a sick child, and I gave a silent "Oh no." These kind of films, no matter how artful, are traps for the viewer, because they are so shamefully manipulative, daring the viewer to watch critically.

This one lays it on thick. A six-year-old girl has cancer, and her parents, who are in a bluegrass band, care for her dutifully. We see flashbacks of how they first met and married, which is kind of interesting, but despite the unusual bluegrass angle and the mother's multiple tattoos, it's a hospital drama.

Then the movie gets more interesting, as the film focuses on their grief. Didier (Johan Heldenbergh) loves American culture and music, but he comes to understand just how Americans are held hostage by religion when he watches President Bush veto the stem-cell research bill (Belgium has no such restriction). He becomes more angry and has a full-blown breakdown during a concert, blasting religion. Elise (Veerle Baetens) draws more inward, choosing to see her daughter in the stars or in the identity of a bird. Knowing that the odds on a marriage surviving the death of a child are slim, we know what's coming, but it manages to be interesting.

Heldenbergh wrote and starred in the play on which it was based, and the film is directed with a sure hand by Felix Van Groeningen. However, and maybe this is just me, I never figured out the significance of bluegrass to the story. It seemed kind of random. I guess it could have been any American music--Dixieland or zydeco could have substituted. It's nice to listen to, though, and Heldenbergh and Baetens are excellent leads, as well as fine musicians.