Didier (Johan Heldenbergh) is a scraggly, rural, banjo-pickin’ good ol’ boy. His Appalachian love is Elise (Veerle Baetens); she wears American flag bikinis and gets a new tattoo with each fill-up. Their child is an adorable seven-year-old named Maybelle (Nell Cattrysse). Her parents anchor a bluegrass experience that’s second to none. And they’re Belgian. Discovering Flemish is spoken on their farm is a bizarre revelation, something akin to finding out The Last Emperor is set in Brazil or Mad Max lives in post-Apocalypse Greenland.
The Broken Circle Breakdown doesn’t dillydally in getting to what’s gonna be in the film – to open, Didier sings and picks on stage with his band and then we cut to Maybelle dying of cancer. We’re gonna have music; we’re gonna have tears. Get used to it. The bittersweet moments are filled with bluegrass from the “BCB Band.” The actors/musicians accentuate several scenes with appropriate country harmony. This is the best soundtrack in recent memory and the most scene-mood apt compilation since O Brother, Where Art Thou? Shame it will be wasted on such a small crowd.
♪Parody inspired by “Man of Constant Sorrow”
So … cancer. Do you remember that horrible film where Abigail Breslin is dying of cancer and sues her parents for the right to die? My Sister’s Keeper made cancer a game with cheesy rules and a goal to see if it could get every viewer in tears by the end. There’s a special place in Hell for those who exploit cancer just to win over the Titanic crowd. The Broken Circle 
Breakdown is the answer to My Sister’s Keeper. There isn’t a cheap moment in the film. Cancer is what it is – a killer. You attack it the best you can; you don’t pretend life or dignity can be saved with empty gestures. Cancer isn’t a gimmick. It isn’t just a tool to invent controversy; IT IS controversy.
Opening with the cancer is not the greatest of stratagems – I mean, where do you go from there? Broken Circle doubles back on itself, picking and choosing among the key scenes from the previous seven years. Elise gets introduced to the ranch; they fight over her pregnancy, but life wins and eventually we meet adorable Maybelle. Broken Circle constantly moves back and forth as the illness advances in the present day timeline. Then we do it again and again after certain milestones are reached. Such editing doesn’t detract from the power of the film; what does detract, however, is a different subplot also told in flashbacks regarding American politics under George W Bush (the movie timeline spans 1999 to 2006). Even though I agree with statement being made AND it’s not out-of-character for Didier, the climax of this plot so completely detracts and derails from the flow of the picture it’s very hard to believe, upon reflection, that it wasn’t removed. It is a true shame as it completely counters what we want to think of Didier. I applaud the full portrayal, but I loathe the introduction of unnecessary character development. Regardless, only a heart of stone will find this material unmoving. Love the emotional roller coaster? By all means, indulge.
♪I am een man of constant sorrow
The pain I feel rarely relents
I bid farewell to all contentment
Now my music makes a lot more sense
(Now his music makes a lot more sense)♫
Not Rated, 111 Minutes
D: Felix Van Groeningen
W: Carl Joos, Felix Van Groeningen & Charlotte Vandermeersch
Genre: Anatomy of pain
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: Sorrow dwellers
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: The unscathed
