The Ardennes

Dave and Kenny are brothers. Four years ago a house robbery went wrong; Kenny was caught, Dave got away, and Kenny said nothing. Now Kenny is coming out. In the meantime Dave has got clean, found work and is living with Kenny's former girlfriend Sylvie, who has also come off drugs and is pregnant. Kenny does not know. When he finds out he does not let it go. Robin Pront directs in his first film. Kevin Janssens plays Kenny and Jeroen Perceval plays Dave; Perceval also worked on the script. The subject is not crime but debt. Because Kenny kept quiet, Dave got a life, and the debt cannot be paid; the film builds that as a family matter. The tone is hard and not humourless; there is an unexpected black comedy in some scenes, close to a known vein in Belgian cinema. The last section takes place in the Ardennes forest and the narrative goes somewhere else entirely; snow, darkness and a scene with a van are the most discussed part. It counted as one of the strong Flemish films of its period in Belgium and was the country's Oscar submission. Kevin Janssens's performance is at the centre; the character is nowhere sympathetic and the film does not try to excuse him. Who it is for: viewers who like hard European crime drama and films built on brothers. Who it is not for: the violence is heavy, none of the characters is pleasant, and the ending is deliberately distressing.