My review of "Rundskop" ("Bullhead")

Impressive. What an impressive debut from director and writer of this film, Michael R. Roskam. The director has mainly worked on short films before and this is his first feature film... Pretty impressive for him to get an Academy Award nomination for his first, in the category "Best Foreign Language Film of the Year". It is a Belgian film but there's some French language spoken in it as well.

I actually love foreign films, they are everything movies should be about. They're rarely sugar coated with cheesyness, although unfortunately that happens as well but not as often as in Hollywood films. Foreign films are very raw and are very true to life. In most cases, foreign films are what all movies should be about.

The acting is quite amazing, especially by Matthias Schoenaerts, the lead actor, who is the best thing about the film. He actually gained 27 kilograms of muscles for this role, that's nearly 60 pounds of pure muscles! That alone should make you want to watch the film. All other actors are great as well but Matthias Schoenaerts clearly stands out...

The movie is about a young cattle farmer by the name of Jacky Vanmarsenille. He meets up with a veterinarian and a notorious beef trader for a shady deal but when a policeman is murdered it brings up the secret of Jacky's past which sets of a chain of consequences.

What really caught my interest is also the beautiful cinematography, some scenes are absolutely beautifully made. It's quite the interesting thriller, a type of thriller you have never seen before and most likely never will again. I've heard many people complain about the lenght of this movie but I had absolutely no problems with it, I would however say that some scenes are quite unimportant. But I like the way the tention is built up, so there's not really much bad to say about this film. The ending however is kind of cheesy and quite predictable, although the acting makes it better than it usually would have been, along with the sounds. Yes, the sounds. You'll understand when you'll see the ending.

It's quite painful to watch, almost too painful at times, seriously. It's an extraordinary movie. It reminds me of a greek play. But it's not quite a masterpiece. But almost.. damn, so close!

SEE IT for god's sake! Well, and for the sake of Matthias Schoenaerts who will obviously become a giant in the acting industry.

My rating: 8,5