Borgman

The one thing I hate more than people not acting/reacting normally in movies is reviewers who whine about people not acting/reacting normally in movies. That said, NO ONE in this movie acted/reacted normally to anything/everything that happened to them. Now, I'll admit, this simply could be how people act/react in the Netherlands. I mean, the name of their country literally means "the Underworld." Not that that actually implies anything. I just thought it was pretty cool.

You are equally drawed towards and repelled by Borgman in this home invasion film on acid.

Maybe it was just the wrong day to watch this kind of Euro-nihilism. But really, I just didn't care. Kind of a mashup of BOUDU SAVED FROM DROWNING and FUNNY GAMES, a mysterious drifter (Jan Bijvoet) worms his way into a bourgeois household, and summoning a number of his colleagues, proceeds to wreak subtle, murderous havoc. Competent across the board, well shot, and well acted, but lacking the psychological insight of Haneke or the humor of the Greek New Wave, it ends up an unpleasant nothing.

Brave film making, succeeds to be disturbing and gripping, dark funny and weird equal measures at the same time. Surprisingly little help is given to us by the director to make sence of what we actually see on screen. This movie is as open ended as it gets. Who is Camiel Borgman? Nature, Evil or a symbol for the angry lower class? So is this movie about class war or the evil, nature or manipulation?

Relies too heavily on imitating Haneke's mode of clinical filmmaking, specifically that which is evidenced in 'Funny Games', combined with a weaker Buñuelesque skewering of the social elite that feels far too on-the-nose at times. The first half is effective in the tension and intrigue created, but the film quickly veers into tedium and nonsense and only sinks deeper into its own aimlessness.

Holland goes Funny Games

I didn't really consider it to be a home invasion movie. The home owner's choices are never motivated by reason, and so the film seems strictly focused on the bizarre actions that this demon or devil takes to get what he ultimately desires. In many ways it mirrors the bizarre actions I take to get what I want. Example: I go to a bar, sit on my phone till someone starts up a convo, get to know the regulars, become known, then find a new bar so I can sit on my phone and start the process over.

Amazing piece of work. It's like reading and enjoying a really good book. Don't read anything about this film, just watch it. Now. Semi-spoiler: my money is on gypsy warlocks.

Lovely disturbing film. Like a Dutch combo of Kynodontas and Funny Games.

This one doesn't make much sense, but it is funny (in a very dark way) and intriguing to say the least. Jan Bijvoet is a terrific actor and manages to look horribly menacing throughout the whole movie.

At first, I was pleasantly surprised by the film's unusual storytelling approach, with the characters' unsubtle eccentricities only adding to the film's off-kilter appeal. But for a 110-minute film, it feels twice as long and the film fails culminate into a meaningful resolution. Worth a watch if you're looking for a somewhat offbeat, absurdist story but nothing to write home about either.

It's a compelling black comedy that was an easy watch, but a bit distant and I never really connected with it.

You need the dispossessed and ostrasized classes to do the dirty job, to turn the wheel of history. Cold alienating narration in a dreamlike atmosphere, looks like Haneke's earlier works, but offers nothing new.

Nonchalant nastiness. Camiel Borgman, a hobo cum homewrecking artist impressively schools us on how it's DONE. A refreshingly placid home invasion. Underhanded and elegant, the intelligence behind his process is a rare thing of beauty. A new personal role model tbh.

Weird and fun and interesting, but a bit too self-conscious in its weirdness, and either too explicit or not explicit enough about how much of it is a representation of the wife's mental state.

SPOILER. Remember that polar bear in the first season of Lost? 'Great, what an interesting idea, I wonder how this mystery will be solved, I will definitely keep watching!' I thought. We now know that in the end the viewer is rewarded with jack shit. This movie consists of a whole range of similar experiences: scene after scene a new layer of mystery is added on top of another. Fun, mysterious and original, but in the end... it just ends.

This bizarre film has stuck with me since I've seen it. The atmosphere is grounded yet unreal. The story is straight forward but confusing. The performances are strong yet uncomfortable. Talk about this one with your friends after you watch it, it'll get a great discussion out of everyone.

I think the point is firmly made - bourgeois authority is to be disrespected, its foundations torn up beneath its feet & new seeds sewn, now, do you disagree or not? The comparisons of this being a mesh of Dogtooth & Funny Games are accurate. You have the sense of invasiveness, although Borgman only touches on the unnervingly nature of this, whereas FG riled in it. As well as the artificial reality manufactured & upheld, again more emphatically designed & delved into by Dogtooth.

Interesting weirdness that loses some momentum towards the end.

and the point is....

This is most definetly weird. Throws a lot of, if nothong else, intriguing scenes at the viewer, that are mostly left unexplained, which is too bad... Overstreetching it would also be bad news as the mystery around it is probably partly what makes it so attractive, but I think it would still work well as a miniseries (first 45 minutes seemed like a trailer for it or even part one maybe). Anyhow, not too bad

hilarious, poignant, a bit cynical but still. of course i loved it. the interesting question is: why does its target (?) audience of educated Dutch filmgoers love it? something like 50/50 euro-liberal guilt/fear of the underclass, or is there smth more?

A darkly hysterical and bizarre home-invasion movie that leaves its plot entirely open to discussion. I couldn't shake the impression that it was much like a modern day Ingmar Bergman film along the lines of Hour of the Wolf or Passion of Anna.

OMG, this is so creepy! You end up having a very uncomfortable feeling by the end of the movie. It's extremely thrilling and there are some scenes that are very uneasy.. Good acting and the story already starts off being intriguing.

Slowly builds up tension, things here and there gets your attention but the end is so open that it is kind of disappointing. I loved it, though.

not a horror movie but very dark and effectively conveys sinister and evil and this really stuck with me. as the credits were rolling I sat there trying to digest it for a few minutes.

This film makes as much sense as pulling a pink rabbit out of hookers ass and naming it Walter. Not something you witness often and van Wardemar's weirdness is funny and intriguing by itself.

Like Lynch with less randomness, Polanski with less ennui, Herzog with less hollow meaninglessness. Unnerving, thought-provoking, and unpredictable--a gem of a movie.

Similar to how I feel about ANTICHRIST and DOGTOOTH: strikingly idiosyncratic and thematically intriguing, but difficult to endure on a moment-to-moment basis.

It's interesting that van Warmerdam might be the only director i can think of who more or less gets drier, darker, more cynical, and more Scandinavian as he gets older. This is essentially fine although it's somewhat disheartening that someone who started out with such an idiosyncratic comedic sensibility would resolve to become a surrogate Michael Haneke. Yes, all the Funny Games comparisons are very apt, although this might just as easily be van Warmerdam's take on Teorema?

Of all the fucking Haneke films to be inspired by, you lot chose Funny Games?! Only the bloody Dutch! Okay, so this did have some nice shots and interesting bits and pieces here and there, but it's permeated by some really lazy cynisism and far too much of the acting is plain inexcusable.

An inventive and enjoyably introspective film. Dark and amusing.

Another oddity from van Warmerdam. A bit more serious than his previous efforts but still with its tongue hovering around its cheek. Open to a wide array of interpretations and very well executed.

Interesting first half, less so in the second.