Alicia
I love this movie so much
Dotsthavesp
I wanted to but couldn't!
Ginger
Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
george_veck
This is without doubt one of the best European films I've ever seen.First of all this was a brilliant performance by Mattias Schoenaerts, his character being a man tormented by a childhood trauma that makes him withdrawn and only really relating to the animals on his farm, even through his silence you can feel the agony he goes through because of this being such a good performance by him. Having lived on farms it is also refreshing to see a good crime film based on the countryside underworld and for it to be accurate as well to various themes of this film. One of the only downsides to this film is that the flashbacks that occur are scattered about and can cause some confusion if your not paying full attention to the film. However overall a great watch and it is not a surprise to see it got nominated for best foreign film of the year. A must see - 9/10
sergepesic
Rage, fiery burning rage and crippling insecurity. Two sides of a same coin. Like very often in life it's the opposites that rule our fate. Jacky Vanmarsenille, young, bulky addict on steroid shots, traumatized with the horrific childhood mutilation, is like an explosion waiting to happen. His entanglement with the illegal growth hormones for his livestock, sadly mirrors his own obsession with masculinity. He is a dangerous and pitiful man who never dealt with his own tragedy, and ultimately pays for it. This is a hard, unflinching look at the complexities of humanity. Corruption, violence, greed, in the same limited space with friendship, family and loyalty, fighting for supremacy. Dark, perhaps imperfect movie, but that is it's allure. Life is far from perfect itself.
punishmentpark
Now, what do we have here? On the one hand, we start off hearing a gloomy monologue of the main character speaking of fate, how it can not be avoided and everything will turn to *poop* - as Belgian farmers generally may or may not be inclined to believe...? Then straight after, we are pulled into the story of the hormone mafia (to increase meat production, cows are given hormone injections, and the murder of an investigator is based on the true case of Karel van Noppen), but pay attention, because it is kind of hard to follow. Then, after some time, we go back twenty years in time and learn of a completely different story, which also goes back to the opening monologue of the film, and (among other things) a connection between the main character and a criminal / informant is explained.These two stories could have worked together, but it just hardly feels rightly combined in this film. At times I wished they had made this into a TV-series, because many characters and issues deserved so much more elaborating. And, I speak of two stories, but there's actually much more going on (for instance a sort of love story and the police doing a sting operation), so 129 minutes is the least they could have used.The most important scene in all this seems to be the brutal beating of main character's privates Jacky at a young age. It's sheer shock value can't be denied, and everything after seems like kid's stuff(!); in any case it puts the story of the hormone mafia (and the police chasing them) in a shady corner. If only that story had died down in the film, but unfortunately, it didn't.And then there are these strangely humorous (I do believe they might be quite Belgian) moments, e.g. the religious vision of Jacky, the gay man (accidentally?) farting on the phone and the police woman's reaction to it, the main character asking the same (gay) man if he's gay and the gay man trying to hide his true identity; in themselves not really funny moments, but more reminiscent of a film like Fargo, where funny meets real, sort of.Finally, the gloomy look of the film is pretty much spot on, I enjoyed it, as well as pretty much all of the acting. But all in all, this is a tough one to give a good rating. There's just too much mixing in the story lines to be truly convinced, although I did easily sit it out.
Awebig Throy
Whom ever says "it's all been done." Needs to see this film..As a modern production 'first of a kind' is VERY rare. For the subject matter, may well remain one of a kind, which is almost entirely impossible.I think to myself, 'Some things just simply are not and never will be OK.' Every living soul will eventually endure that truth, yet most stories and films do there very best to convince us otherwise. Not here.Bullhead smashes into you with tragic inescapable fates and the secret conditions silently endured.As a man watching this film, my gut(and loins) recoiled and cramped, begging me away from the screen. My soul demanded me to keep watching. I long after contemplate the 'scenario' Michaël R. Roskam had me endure. Visual excellence, great characters, great performance and humanity.Say good riddance to characters who come into a plot in one piece, glide though the impossible, somehow 'win' the struggle and go out in that same one piece. Bullhead is much closer to reality; It stays trapped, here, with us, in the meat grinder. .Watch to see a special violence; A lonely condition suffered in silence, Unstoppable creeping fate. This film beat the crap out of me. Bullhead is a cruel, dead eyed masterpiece... As is all of life.
