Felix Van Groeningen's vivid emotional drama of life, love and Bluegrass tunes with its mouthful of a title,
The Broken Circle Breakdown, is quite simply put, one of the best films you will probably see all year. The Flemish director set the bar pretty high with his last film, 2009's
The Misfortunates, a family drama about four men who cannot seem to get this shit together, until you realize that they are living life to its fullest. Here the amount of growth and intimacy and yes melodrama (but the good kind) is heightened that audiences kind of stagger out of the cinema emotionally drained. Edited in an elliptical fashion that only heightens the intensity of the feelings, and sprinkled liberally with great music (as seen in this trailer) I cannot wait until November 1st when it hits select cities in a theatrical release from Tribeca Films.
Elise (Veerle Baetens) and Didier (Johan Heldenbergh) 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.