Folie privée

The feature début by Joachim Lafosse is short but sharp: in little more than an hour – an impressively intense hour – it is all over. The story is a modern variation on Medea. Jan (played by co-writer Kris Cuppens) has decided, despite earlier promises, to stay on in the country house where his ex Pascale (Salee) wants to move in with their son Thomas (Wertz), aged seven, and her new boyfriend Didier (Cahay). He had already reluctantly agreed that Pascale should have custody of their son, but now he refuses to leave the boy. The situation is emotional and tense: Jan can’t or won’t surrender the last thing he has without a fight. Pascale wants to carry on with her life and her new boyfriend’s patience with her erratic ex is exhausted. Little Thomas, who would love his father to stay, wants everything to work out, but only partly understands the situation. In the nine (!) days it took Lafosse et compagnie to shoot Folie privée, the actors seem to have become their roles, despite the overbearing camera: Kris Cuppens is overwhelmingly convincing as the man who is so torn by his emotions that only a physical solution seems possible, but seven-year-old Mathias Wertz steals the show in this film for adults. Heavy going. (GT)