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Rating: Perhaps this moment, the period with the most light of the year for us inhabitants of the northern hemisphere, is the right one to spend some time telling you about a punch in the teeth that goes by the name of "Alabama Monroe." Long days, in fact, are said to have a positive effect on people's moods: in June we feel energized because summer, that oven full of illusory expectations, is still all ahead of us like an untouched road with freshly paved black asphalt. One of those wide and curvy roads that is a pleasure to race down at full speed making the tires screech. However, times are tricky, and consequently, it is likely that many of you, despite twelve hours of sun and theories about meteoropathy, are not particularly in good spirits; if so, pretend you didn't click on this review and go elsewhere. Trust me, you don't need "Alabama Monroe." I didn't need it either, but so it is.
He is a banjo player in a bluegrass band, she is a tattoo artist with a clear voice who has marked and covered every important moment of her life on her body. It's a passionate love story; one of those where, BANG, you don't understand anything anymore, and everything else remains blurred, off-centered, as if it were an anonymous sound background. This fairy tale risks breaking with the unforeseen arrival of a daughter, but this crisis will be overcome and will further consolidate a genuine and pure relationship, made of passion and free from falsehoods and pretense. The solidity of the family unit is so strong that not even the most terrible event will be able to break the union with a clean break. It would have been better because it will be a continuous erosion that will undermine the foundations of the couple, accentuating the differences between husband (realist and convinced atheist) and wife (dreamer and believer). In a dead end, with no moves available (checkmate), they will try to face a horrible tragedy in the best way possible. The actors who portray the two protagonists (Johan Heldenbergh and Veerle Baetens) are so good that the spectators will feel a pain so intense, it becomes almost unbearable.
The work is imbued with sweetness and poignant drama, with very little caramel rhetoric accompanying it, that even the most "macho," those who declare themselves allergic to tears, even they might experience some leakage from their eyes. I don't want to reveal the plot, the ending, and I want to close here hoping to have piqued your interest.
I wonder how a work like this, with such an inspired, strong, and courageous screenplay, capable of addressing very delicate themes with an excellent cast performance, with a soundtrack that would deserve an expert's review... I wonder how this Belgian gem failed to overwhelmingly win the Oscar for Best Foreign Film.
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