REVIEWS
FORUM
Neth-Ger-Bel. 2010. 102mins Director Nanouk Leopold Production company Circe Films, Coin Film, Serendipity Films, Bella Cohen Films, VPRO Television International sales Films Distribution, www.
filmsdistribution.com Producer Stienette Bosklopper Cinematography Frank van den Eeden Production designer Elsje de Bruijn Editor Katharina Wartena Music Harry de Wit Main cast Sandra Hüller, Dragan Bakema, Sabine Timoteo
Brownian Movement REVIEWED BY MIKE GOODRIDGE
Dutch film-maker Nanouk Leopold, whose impressive oeuvre includes Wolfsbergen, Guernsey and Iles Flottantes, returns with a daring exploration of marriage that, like its bold female pro- tagonist, challenges conventional thinking about sex and rela- tionships. Minimalist in its style and dialogue (which is in both English
and French), it is one of those quiet art films which does not offer anything as simple as reasons or excuses for the actions it depicts; and while its refusal to do so will frustrate viewers used to pat movie solutions, others will find its quiet power resonates long after the end credits roll. Brownian Movement’s biggest profile will be found on the fes-
tival circuit, and it plays in Forum at the Berlinale this week after a world premiere at Toronto last year. It has distribution set in the co-production countries (Cinéart in Benelux and Filmli- chter in Germany), and sales agent Films Distribution will gen- erate interest from arthouse buyers elsewhere who appreciate a provocative adult drama. Sandra Hüller gives a memorable performance as a German
woman called Charlotte who works as a doctor in a hospital in Brussels. She is happily married to Max (Bakema), and they have a child together. The film opens as Charlotte rents a small apartment for her
own private use, which it turns out is as a place to have sex with random men whom she picks up in her daily life, usually patients. The men are never of a type. One is overweight, one hairy, one very old. While these encounters are one-offs and never entail emotional engagement, they bring her an inde- pendence and fulfilment she cannot get in her marriage. When her husband discovers her secret, he is devastated, and
Charlotte finds it difficult to articulate her need for the other men in therapy sessions. The couple stay together, nevertheless, and have twins; but months later, when they have moved to India for an architectural project Max is overseeing, he is still suspicious and she is still aching to act on her carnal desires. Beneath its glacial surface, Brownian Movement courses with
powerful emotions, colliding randomly, like in the theory after which the film is named. Charlotte’s need for a sexual outlet is scorned by society — because of it, she loses her career and Max almost leaves her — yet, asks Leopold, why is her suppression of it any less damaging?
n 26 Screen International in Berlin February 11, 2011
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