"Linkeroever" (Left Bank) [/b]- "The story of Marie, a professional runner who has just qualified for the European Championships. Marie meets Bobby, the head of the archery guild. Bobby lives on the elusive left bank of Antwerp in a creepy apartment building which has a dark history going all the way back to the Medieval period. After moving in with Bobby, Marie injures her leg. Plagued by increasingly bizarre visions, some of them apparently involving a black well in the basement, Marie starts missing out on her period and her wound grows ever more grotesque..."
Quoting Dirtymoviedevotee (vermeulendries@yahoo.com) from Brugge, Belgium - "..Van Hees has liberally borrowed elements from Roman Polanski's THE TENANT and ROSEMARY'S BABY, Robin Hardy's one-off THE WICKER MAN and the recent glut of J-Horror (DARK WATER especially) for a story that still manages to considerable feat of seeming authentic and somewhat unpredictable even to the seasoned viewer's eye...
LINKEROEVER slowly initiates audiences into its outwardly normal but seriously askew universe through identification with its strong, sympathetic heroine. Secrets are never revealed to us before Marie learns of them, leading to an ending few will see coming. Speaking of which, and without giving away to much, this must surely be one of the most hauntingly beautiful codas in recent memory. Stubbornly refusing to make sense on a logical, cerebral level, it does so perfectly from an emotional point of view. What's more, with all the darkness that has preceded it, this actually lets viewers leave the theater with a strange sense of elation approaching happiness though this is by no means a traditional happy ending ! Did I arouse your curiosity ? Good ! Van Hees beautifully sustains the mood of impending dread by all means at his disposal. Cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis makes splendid use of the cloud-packed skies adding to the oppressive atmosphere in exquisitely effective contrast with the golden light that dominates the latter part of the picture. Music is sparingly and equally effectively employed, with a jarringly edited party sequence tearing your senses to shreds. As with everything else here, this aural and visual assault serves a definite purpose, to pull away all vestiges of the familiar for characters and viewers alike. In interviews, the director and his entourage have claimed this film as some sort of "dry run" for their upcoming DIRTY MIND with comedian Wim Helsen. If so, that should be awesome. A remarkably assured work, LINKEROEVER already stands as one of the finest films of 2008 right out of the gate."
Pieter Van Hees' "Linkerover" is a wonderful, suspenseful and at times very creepy movie; occult horror at it's best and one of the best films I've seen this year.
'Eline Kuppens' is outstanding in her screen debut!
Cinematographer Niclolas Karakatsanis' work is absolutely beautiful; his shots of the Belguim countryside are stunning!
The pacing and action are slow, the visuals strong, and the ending unexpected and rewarding. If you do not like a movie that has these qualities then you may not like "Linkeroever".
Highly recommended.
Quoting Dirtymoviedevotee (vermeulendries@yahoo.com) from Brugge, Belgium - "..Van Hees has liberally borrowed elements from Roman Polanski's THE TENANT and ROSEMARY'S BABY, Robin Hardy's one-off THE WICKER MAN and the recent glut of J-Horror (DARK WATER especially) for a story that still manages to considerable feat of seeming authentic and somewhat unpredictable even to the seasoned viewer's eye...
LINKEROEVER slowly initiates audiences into its outwardly normal but seriously askew universe through identification with its strong, sympathetic heroine. Secrets are never revealed to us before Marie learns of them, leading to an ending few will see coming. Speaking of which, and without giving away to much, this must surely be one of the most hauntingly beautiful codas in recent memory. Stubbornly refusing to make sense on a logical, cerebral level, it does so perfectly from an emotional point of view. What's more, with all the darkness that has preceded it, this actually lets viewers leave the theater with a strange sense of elation approaching happiness though this is by no means a traditional happy ending ! Did I arouse your curiosity ? Good ! Van Hees beautifully sustains the mood of impending dread by all means at his disposal. Cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis makes splendid use of the cloud-packed skies adding to the oppressive atmosphere in exquisitely effective contrast with the golden light that dominates the latter part of the picture. Music is sparingly and equally effectively employed, with a jarringly edited party sequence tearing your senses to shreds. As with everything else here, this aural and visual assault serves a definite purpose, to pull away all vestiges of the familiar for characters and viewers alike. In interviews, the director and his entourage have claimed this film as some sort of "dry run" for their upcoming DIRTY MIND with comedian Wim Helsen. If so, that should be awesome. A remarkably assured work, LINKEROEVER already stands as one of the finest films of 2008 right out of the gate."
Pieter Van Hees' "Linkerover" is a wonderful, suspenseful and at times very creepy movie; occult horror at it's best and one of the best films I've seen this year.
'Eline Kuppens' is outstanding in her screen debut!
Cinematographer Niclolas Karakatsanis' work is absolutely beautiful; his shots of the Belguim countryside are stunning!
The pacing and action are slow, the visuals strong, and the ending unexpected and rewarding. If you do not like a movie that has these qualities then you may not like "Linkeroever".
Highly recommended.
