Borgman
Description
Camiel Borgman just wants to “play.” Unfortunately for well-heeled couple Marina and Richard, his funny games involve complex psychological warfare and tend to accumulate an alarmingly large number of corpses. After being flushed out of his subterranean forest hovel by a hatchet-wielding priest, Camiel trolls a nearby bourgeois enclave in search of a hot bath and a friendly face, but is instead treated to a brutal beating by the unsympathetic Richard. Marina, however, takes pity on the sad sack, and he quickly makes himself at home—unbeknownst to Marina’s husband and to the confused fascination of their kids, whom he delights with surreptitious bedtime stories. But soon Camiel gets bored, and, along with a seemingly inexhaustible network of psychopathic scam artists prone to casual violence, hatches a bizarre plot to upend the family’s life in ways unlike anything found in a children’s fairy tale. Peppering the film with darkly comic, surrealist interludes, director Alex van Warmerdam deftly interlaces the absurdism and stark violence of this pitch-black social satire/thriller so seamlessly that its truly disturbing nature comes at a slow burn, and to devastating effect—it’s as if Boudu were saved from drowning on the set of Blue Velvet. –Michelle Devereaux
Dutch actor-filmmaker Alex van Warmerdam is known for his surreal black comedy-dramas in which he sometimes stars, including Voyeur (1986), Die Noorderlinger (1992), Little Tony (1998) and Ober (2006). His other directorial credits include The Dress (1996) and Grimm (SFIFF 2004). Borgman was presented in competition during the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and won the Golden Calf at the 2013 Netherlands Film Festival.
Film Details
Language Dutch and English
Year 2013
Runtime 113
Country Netherlands
Director Alex van Warmerdam
Producer Marc van Warmerdam
Writer Alex van Warmerdam
Editor Job ter Burg
Cinematographer Tom Erisman
Music Vincent van Warmerdam
Cast Jan Bijvoet, Hadewych Minis
Print Source Drafthouse Films/ drafthousefilms.com