Borgman

A man living underground in the woods is driven out by hunters and walks to a modern house belonging to a wealthy family, asking to take a bath. The husband beats him. The wife takes pity, lets him in and hides him. The man is called Camiel Borgman, and he is not alone: before long his own crew is in the house too. The film never says who these people are or what they want. Evil here is not a motive but a job: an order is set up, the garden is dug, the children are won over, and the woman of the house is made an accomplice to something she never understands. In the opening a priest goes to their pit carrying a stake, and beyond that no explanation ever arrives. Alex van Warmerdam wrote and directed. Jan Bijvoet plays Borgman. It competed for the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2013, the first Dutch film in competition in thirty-eight years, the previous one being Jos Stelling's from 1975. The director's familiar dry humour is intact but the tone is markedly darker. Who it is for: anyone who likes thrillers that refuse to explain and European black comedy. Who it is not for: anyone who wants answers. The film resolves nothing, some scenes are coldly cruel, and it will not hand a single clue to anyone hoping to read it as allegory.