When I was a kid cruising the local video store there was this movie. It was a movie with a black and white cover. And it was rated NC-17. I knew nothing about it, just that it was rated NC-17, and that was enough for me. What could it be? What could be in it to give such a rating? It was, and is, a rarely used rating. NC-17 is the kiss of death. No movie can make money that way. Here was a film that refused to be censored. That movie was Man Bites Dog. Years later, I watched the film. It has that 90′s vibe about it that many indie flicks, regardless of their country of origin, seemed to have. Made in Belgium, it’s a nasty piece of work about a man and a film crew that go around killing people for fun. It was meant to be real, and is all the more shocking, especially given how ahead of its time it really was. Silence, ca tue! is also from Belgium, and like Man Bites Dog, was banned there and in France. It’s also similar in that it’s about a guy with a film crew that kills people. But Man Bites Dog was iconic, and this film is not.
It’s hard not to compare the films, both being of similar subject matter and both being from the same country. And perhaps that’s not fair. Silence, ca tue! was supposed to be about the difficulties of getting an independent film made in Belgium. Like many European nations, the film industry there is controlled by the government. Sure, the gov will pay for your film, but it has to be a film they agree to make. Which means dull films that support the government’s ideals and the culture of the country. Subversive films are nearly impossible to make in a climate where independent financiers and venture capitalists are unheard of. It’s an alien idea to walk up to a dentist and as for him to invest in your little flick, which is exactly what Sam Raimi did to finance The Evil Dead. I get it. It’s a bummer to be a film maker in a country with no freedom of speech and no way to get your film financed. The problem is, what started as a plausibly good idea devolves in to constant bickering, and poorly done murder scenes that carry no weight and seem incongruous with the rest of the film. Seriously if it wasn’t for the couple of folks they bump off the whole film would have had no plot at all. As it stands, there’s barely one to speak of.
I hate trashing on indie flicks, especially flicks that actually try to say something, even feebly, but this one was difficult to get through. Honestly, the only thing it has going for it is its very short run time.
