Brussels by Night

Marc Didden's 1983 Belgian film follows Max, a middle-aged man who arrives in Brussels. He has no particular purpose; wandering the streets through the night he meets three unconnected people, and as the hours pass the tension between them grows. The subject is the city itself. The Dutch-speaking and French-speaking faces of Brussels, its immigrant quarters and its empty night places are not background but the narrative's real material. It is Didden's first feature and was taken as one of the markers of Flemish cinema changing direction in the eighties. The narrative does not lean on plot; it proceeds through encounters and short exchanges. Who it's for: those who like night-in-the-city narratives and European independent cinema. Who it's not for: viewers expecting a story with a direction; the film is the wandering itself.