Walloon cinema

Published 29, septembrer 2009

Walloon films are often characterized by social realism. It is perhaps the resaon why Misère au Borinage, especially its film director Henri Storck (with Joris Ivens) is considered by Robert Stallaerts as the father of the Walloon cinema. He wrote: « Although a Fleming, he can be called the father of the Walloon cinema. » 1 . This Walloon cinema is linked to the History of Wallonia as for instance Philip Mosley wrote it in a short sentence about Misère au Borinage : « Matters worsened in 1956 with the Marcinelle disaster, whose victims included many immigrants, and then with release of initial closure plans for Walloon mines. In scene reminiscent of Storck's Borinage film of 1933, social unrest in the area near Mons escalated into general strike of 1960 and 1961. »2 For F.André between Misère au Borinage and the films like those of the Dardenne brothers (since 1979), there is Déjà s'envole la fleur maigre (1960) (also shot in the Borinage) 3, a film regarded as a point of reference in the history of the cinema 4. Like those of the Dardenne brothers, Thierry Michel, Jean-Jacques Andrien, Benoît Mariage, or, e.g. the social documentaries of Patric Jean, the director of Les enfants du Borinage writing his film as a letter to Henri Storck. On the other hand, films such as Thierry Zéno's " Vase de noces" (1974), Mireille in the life of the others by Jean-Marie Buchet (1979), C'est arrivé près de chez vous (English title: Man Bites Dog ) by Rémy Belvaux and André Bonzel (1992) and the works of Noël Godin and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are influenced by surrealism, absurdism and black comedy. The film of the Dardenne brothers are also inspired by the Bible and Le Fils for instance is regarded as one of the most spiritually significant films after Ordet 5

[Source Wikipedia the free Encyclopaedia 29 september 2009]