The Ordeal (Calvaire) [DVD]

 

 

Create your own review

Disturbing; unsettling, weird; uncomfortable - these are just a few of the adjectives that most come to mind when I reflect upon this uniquely creepy film. The English title is The Ordeal, but ordeal really isn't an adequate description of what this film's protagonist endures over the course of this 90-minute film. I looked "Calvaire" up online and found that it translates from French to English as martyrdom or living death - yep, that's pretty much spot on, as I think all viewers of this film will agree. I like my horror as deep and disturbing as I can find it, yet I've never developed a real affinity for exploitation films or for the types of films that admittedly influenced Belgian director Fabrice Du Welz (including the original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), and I don't believe anyone, (including this film's biggest fans) can say they actually enjoyed this cinematic experience - yet there's something special and certainly compelling about Calvaire. Even though I didn't interpret it exactly the way the director explains it, it's a darn impressive film that succeeds amazingly well at shocking and disturbing the viewer.

For a director's first feature-length movie - and one that that makes no secret of that director's cinematic influences - Calvaire achieves a sustained identity all its own, evincing a shrouded, unsettling cinematic atmosphere from the opening shot. It's most interesting to hear Du Welz talk about his cinematic vision and the film's intended transitions from naturalism to surrealism and back. I do have a problem with the way snow appears and disappears from the landscape (as well as the treatment of a couple of animal actors), but apart from that the cinematography is ruthlessly effective.

Calvaire asks "What's the worst that could happen?" and then sets about to answer that question rather definitively. Lounge singer Marc Stevens (Laurent Lucas) already lives in a depressing, colorless world, with a couple of rather disturbing events hastening him away from his latest gig performing at a retirement home. On the way to his next appearance, he takes to unfamiliar backcountry roads, leaving him high but not at all dry when his van breaks down in the middle of nowhere - at night - in a rainstorm. An obviously mentally challenged stranger out looking for his dog directs him to a rural inn just up the road. Upon Marc's arrival, the proprietor of that establishment, Bartel (Jackie Berroyer), seems nice enough, taking him in and volunteering to work on his van. He does a number on the van, all right, but not before revealing his obvious state of mental anguish over his wife Gloria's desertion of him. Bartel really, really wants his wife back. Do you see where I'm going with this? Gloria's gone, Marc's there. Gloria was a singer, Marc is a singer. I think you can imagine just what kind of dire situation Marc soon finds himself in.

As if things weren't bad enough for Marc already, the local villagers are also interested in "Gloria" - and they are even stranger than Bartel, as they prove during the oddest dancing scene I've ever seen in my life. From this point on, all bets are off in terms of what will happen - the only guarantee is that it will be memorable and increasingly disturbing. The ending is somewhat ambiguous, but by that point you're so knocked off-kilter that you don't really know how to react, anyway.

The making-of featurette, which consists of a lengthy interview with the director and some behind-the-scenes shots of key scenes, is extremely interesting. Du Welz's enthusiasm is contagious, and it's refreshing to hear him acknowledge his influences while detailing his peculiar vision for this film. It was here that I discovered that he carefully chose his actors in order to put a unique spin on the story, but my unfamiliarity with Jackie Berroyer in particular led me to interpret the story quite differently. (Among the cast members, I should note, is Brigitte Lahaie in a small cameo role.) Thus, I now have two different ways of looking at this film. You just don't find that kind of depth in the vast majority of studio films, and the same thing can be said of the daring of Du Welz, Berroyer, and - in particular - Laurent. If you're looking for something different, this is it. You may not enjoy Calvaire, but you can't help but be impressed by it.

.....Take my advice: don't go. Stay at home and watch this film instead, then you'll be glad you didn't venture out. Find a cauldron, chuck in Deliverance, Blair Witch, Misery, Straw Dogs and Texas Chainsaw, stir thoroughly, add some distinctly French seasoning and a little paraphilia, and the resulting stew is Calvaire, one of the darkest, disturbing, weird and original horror films I've seen for a while. And yeah, the big, burly backwooders 'dancing' in the bar is truly bizarre. Recommended.

Totally mental - the film and the characters...yet strangely intriguing. Very reminiscent of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre with elements of Blair Witch Project and Misery. No niceties in this one - if you want heart-warming certainly not the film for you!

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 22 customer reviews...

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Marc Stevens ain't no Michael Buble
Loved the dark and bleak atmosphere in the movie,old folk entertainer Marc Stevens stumbles into his worst nightmare in the middle of nowhere. Read more

Published 7 months ago by the 12th man

3.0 out of 5 stars Bizarrely fascinating
A dark pastiche that pays tribute to such 1970's classics as Deliverance (hostile gun-toting locals), and Straw Dogs (an isolated house under siege) Calvaire is a wonderfully... Read more

Published 7 months ago by MR ANDREW ROSS

1.0 out of 5 stars So boring....
I have bought this DVD because of the majority of positive feedbacks written on here.
But after watching it I totally agree with the negative feedbacks given to it... Read more

Published 13 months ago by Wesley Scott

3.0 out of 5 stars Creepy, but flawed man's ORDEAL
This is a brilliant but boring film. The idea and concept is a cocktail mix inspired by Misery and Deliverance. Read more

Published 14 months ago by T. BROOKES

4.0 out of 5 stars Highly creepy, yet, beautifully crafted.
I've been getting into my foreign horror more and more of late, and got this through just a few days ago. Read more

Published 15 months ago by Mr. Jody Shelley

4.0 out of 5 stars A 98 min. nightmare
Ordered this movie without knowing much about it, other then I'd seen the trailer, and it looked just ok, and a friend suggested it to me.
I was NOT disappointed! Read more

Published 16 months ago by Christian Lee Jensen

3.0 out of 5 stars Happy Feet?
Billed as somewhere between Deliverance and the UK comedy series League of Gentleman. It is the disturbing story of backwoods Belgium but more than

anything I found... Read more

Published 17 months ago by menwithoutfeet

1.0 out of 5 stars RUBBISH
Watching the first 3 minutes of this film will want to make you fast forward. Weired sense of humour;quite sick actually but not entertaining. Read more

Published 18 months ago by MICHELE GOODWIN

5.0 out of 5 stars A must see!
Trust me people this is a must see movie. I have seen some great films in my time and this is one. I wont tell you the plot as everybody else has already done that. Read more

Published on 3 Jan 2009 by Ms. D. L. Bannister

1.0 out of 5 stars You Have Got To Be Kidding
Small time cabaret singer Marc Stevens(Laurent Lucas)travels the length and breadth of Belgium performing wherever until his van breaks down and he accepts the hospitality of one... Read more

Published on 3 Dec 2008 by Mark Pearce

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 22 customer reviews...

Search Listmania!