The Misfortunates

TIFF: Gunther Strobbe (Kenneth Vanbaeden) is a thirteen-year-old boy growing up in the eighties. He lives in his grandmother's ramshackle house in a small Belgian town with his alcoholic father (a postman with more bars on his route than any of his colleagues) and three alcoholic uncles. Life in the household is clearly dysfunctional, yet it's hard to condemn the Strobbe men for their sins. Their hearts are in the right place – it's just that they can't seem to help turning everything around them into an unmitigated disaster. The Strobbes enter drinking contests, ride bicycles naked, pick up women, break furniture and invade their neighbours' homes to watch their beloved Roy Orbison on television. They teach vulgar songs to little girls and end up in hospital, then head right back to the bar the next day. Gunther is an observer in this broken home that reeks of cigarette smoke, spilled beer and sweat-stained clothes. He participates in his drunken uncles' shenanigans only to fit in, hiding his true passion for writing, which is ultimately his key to escaping this squalor.

It might have been the tear-jerker hit of the year if Ken Loach had been given the script, but in the hands of Felix van Groeningen, this film has the raw Flemish edge and black comedy that made Koen Mortier's 2007 Ex Drummer so memorable. Van Groeningen has adapted a widely read and acclaimed semi-autobiographical novel by Dimitri Verhulst into a film balanced with comedy and heartbreak, icy cynicism and poignant pathos. His depiction of small-town life, rife with gossip and class divisions, is spot on and sadly universal. The narrative is further buoyed by heart-wrenching performances not only from the young Vanbaeden, but also from Koen De Graeve as his father and stage actress Gilda De Bal as the grandma whose “heart is bigger than her pension.”

Real life is full of problems more complex than just “getting out of the old neighbourhood,” and The Misfortunates illustrates this point with bittersweet humour, moments of genuine emotion, a lot of compassion for its flawed characters.

--Colin Geddes

Felix van Groeningen was born in Belgium and attended the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KASK) in Ghent. He made the short film 50cc (00) before going on to write and direct several stage plays for his theatre collective, Kung Fu. His feature films are Steve + Sky (04), With Friends Like These (07) and The Misfortunates (09).
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Larry Richman: The Misfortunates had premiered at Cannes and was one of the non-Midnight Madness films selected by programmer Colin Geddes. Director Felix van Groeningen introduced the film with a few caveats about the drunkenness and debauchery to come. The film is a coming-of-age story filled with humor and pathos, presenting some painfully brutal characterizations of life in Belgium for a 13-year-old boy living in a house of alcoholics. Equal parts comedy and tragedy, The Misfortunates can be painful to watch at times but the payoff is worth it. Shot cinema verité style, the artful use of color and texture combined with copious amounts of bawdy humor make this film an audience favorite.