Description
Buitenspel 2005
1h 30min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery | 21 December 2005 (Belgium)
Storyline:
Flemish greater Brussels grocer Bert transferred his true passion, aiming for the national football (soccer) team, missed due to a knee injury, to his eager son Gilles (12), whom he coaches tirelessly. Excessive anger at the referee during the match when a scout may select Gilles for the provincial team, a crucial step, proves fatal for Bert’s heart. Gilles is frustrated that both the grocery shop and his mother gradually are taken over by football-ignorant accountant Joris and imagines still being coached by father. His own foot injury will either delay his ambition at a crucial or may end it altogether if not treated properly.
User review:
Buitenspel is a movie about a 12 year old boy who is ambitious to become a Red Devil for the national soccer team of Belgium. After his father, played by Filip Peeters, dies of a heart attack Gilles gets to deal with a lot of emotions in his “new” life: mourning the loss of his father who happened to be his biggest fan and best friend, having to deal with his mother’s new partner,… Also Gilles’ soccer future gets threatened by a serious foot injury which causes him to having to make a very important decision.
Being a soccer fanatic in school at the same age as the main character I found this picture touching. The acting was great, especially from Joke Devynck and Filip Peeters, and I thought the camera work was pretty good too considering we’re talking Belgian film making here.
On the overall I think Jan Verheyen did a pretty good job with this movie. Still Team Spirit en Alles moet weg had that special ingredient this one was missing. In my opinion the story could have been worked out a lot better by using other characters in an understory and I also felt the acting by Ilya Van Malderghem wasn’t too satisfying. Sometimes I could just see where a scene was going from the beginning on. I’m not saying I could forecast the ending of the movie because I was expecting to see Gilles turning out to be a “Rode Duivel -15”, but there were lots of times where I could have just get a drink without having to pause the film. It was often predictable is what I’m saying… The main character Gilles was played by someone who had no experience at all in movie acting. Maybe Jan Verheyen should have picked a kid that had already been there and wasn’t so good at soccer instead. There were a couple of scenes where you could really see that Ilya isn’t much of a performer in regard to expressing emotions, f.e. the scene where his mother (Devynck) reminds him his father is dead because of all the psychotic experiences he’s having. Also his mother calls him “venteke” which is an Antwerp dialect for “my little guy” for about 563 times in the movie which got a little on my nerves.
Nevertheless there were a lot of aspects I loved about this movie: the story is very likable, the music is fulfilling and I also enjoyed watching Filip Peeters on the screen. Any movie with him would have to be ridiculously catastrophic to be rated under 5 by me. This is a movie worth watching whether you live in Belgium or anywhere else. Emotion is guaranteed!
Directors: Jan Verheyen, Pieter Van Hees
Writers: Frank Ketelaar, Ed Vanderweyden
Stars: Ilya Van Malderghem, Joke Devynck, Filip Peeters
Country: Belgium
Language: Dutch
Release Date: 21 December 2005 (Belgium)
Filming Locations: Dendermonde, Belgium
allan (verified owner) –
enjoyed this film. no problem with subtitles or download.
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Anonymous (verified owner) –
Gilles, a 12 year-old boy, is a football (soccer) player. His father, who had lost his chance to play in national football due to a knee injury, is his coach. During one of Gilles’s football games, his father gets angry at the referee, and while yelling at him, he has a heart attack and dies. In Gilles’s traumatized mind, he actually “sees” his father and imagines that he is still coaching him. Gilles, who has injured his own foot in one of his games, is told by his doctor that he has to have surgery on it, and if he continues to play football before his surgery, he may never be able to play again. Gilles’s dilemma is that he has been chosen to try out for the “Red Devils” and will miss his chance. Gilles wants to play just ONE MORE game to prove himself. But if things go wrong, it may ruin his own career! Will he follow the doctor’s orders or take a chance at his dream? I have mixed feelings about this movie. On one hand, the plot is very basic. There is not a lot of depth. On the other hand, I found myself genuinely worried about Gilles, wondering and hoping everything will turn out alright at the conclusion. So I give it 3 stars.