The Broken Circle Breakdown

Solid step up from the Misfortunates. The characters and the bluegrass milieu makes for a charming universe that suits the subject matter. Combined with a great soundtrack and a well structured narrative this ensures that it never veers into tragedy porn but stays well balanced. The way Van Groeningen manages to switch from light comedy to absolute tragedy within a matter of seconds makes Broken Circle Breakdown hit you in the feels repeatedly and harder than anything I've seen in recent years.

overload of religion-bashing aside, this should have you nodding to the soundtrack after 2 minutes, weeping after 20, and staring desillusioned/uplifted into the end credits at closing time..

Ouch. Touching in a way that I'm not sure I've experienced before. Not aesthetically, but in pretty much all other ways.

Berlinale 2013 & Country muzik sevdigim icin, benim icin izlemeye deger olsa da, animsanmaya degmeyecek bir melodram. (ve buyuk olasilik bir iki yil sonra animsamayacagim da.)

It's been 3 years since a bunch of sottish, naked-cycling oddballs infused "The Misfortunates" with bittersweet glee; Van Groeningen's latest still radiates with his visual flair yet gets complacent by forcing its audience to wallow in the protagonists' shared misery following the news of their ill-fated daughter (*ugh*). Hammy portrayals only make matters worse: notice when Didier bursts out in a long-winded, dramatically contrived speech about stem-cell research; I believe that's called jump

A very emotional movie, told as a bluegrass love story. It beautifully balances the joyful, honest music with the tragic story about a loved couple and their young daughter sick with cancer. It takes the best from american romance and european tragedy, but stumbles a little when it tries to implement criticism on religion.

Besides the subtitles and the rapid fire flashbacks, it was a good story with some excellent bluegrass performances by Flemish speakers. Clever title. The religious sub-plot gets nowhere.

Tragic but beautiful love story questioning different aspects of faith, towards god, reason, acts of man and life in its simplicity.

This is a beautiful film. The film is punctuated by bluegrass performances that act almost like a Greek chorus. Their relationship is very much like this music ... a blend of the dirt practical with the quest for transcendence ... and the film is somewhat like their search for how to find this blend in real life. The narrative is fractured, with routine flashes forward and back, but there's an emotional logic to it, like a song.

valla çok sevdim, çok vurucuydu. kurgusu özellikle hoşuma gitti.

This is a gritty, sobering watch. Its really quite an emotional watch and its somewhat thought provoking. The cast do a good job. Its well worth a watch.

The performances are great, and the soundtrack of bluegrass music really does bring the thing to life. The film, though, seems to threaten to fall apart in the second half, thanks in part, to its trying to overreach itself. Thankfully, it manages not to, and it ends up being a strong, if not perfect piece of work

I would've enjoyed this film more if it wasn't falsely advertised. This movie is as European as it gets.

A remarkable, highly aesthetic character drama which beneath all the layers is a straightforward grief trip you've probably seen before. The beauty here is how slowly the story is unfolded and how complex it reveals itself to be. Jumping around time periods, keeping us in the dark as regards location (for at least 30 minutes I wondered what part of America they were in), showing fascinating characters and truthful scenes, all surrounded by apt cinematography and glorious musical interludes. A-

really beautiful movie

Very moving portrayal of a relationship following the death of a child. The bluegrass soundtrack lifted the film and kept the mood hopeful.

Some scenes work, some don't. To much doesn't hit the tone that is necessery to tell this story. And the final "soul"-scene didn't convince me at all, neither did the "stem-cell for everyone" moments. The music, this in between state of fleshy and spiritual, structerd this movie. More in between could've made it a special story.

Interesting plot order, particularly the juxtaposition between happy moments and sad moments to intensify the audience emotion and signify the ups and downs of life. Despite the non-chronological plot arrangement, the cause and effect relation is clearly conveyed towards the end. Religious people may find the anti-religion theme portrayed by this film disturbing.

I like the poster.

Broken Circle Breakdown is odd because it feels like a European film imitating American melodrama, specifically Cianfrance's Blue Valentine, which also features a non-linear narrative. Plus, there are some awkward scenes - most of which feature Didier screaming in defiance of Bush's policy on stem-cell research. But despite all this awkwardness, the leads create a passionate and convincing on-screen relationship, and this is what keeps the movie afloat and makes it strong and worthwhile.

A heart-wrenching and beautiful film.

Powerful with unexpected ideologies weaved in.

an emotional musical explosion..

it's possible i just mildly dug it 'cause it's so much less obnoxious than that other elliptical cancer flick BURNING MAN, despite george w. bush's face eating this movie halfway through and shitting out derek cianfrance. aftertaste is getting increasingly sour though. not only is it pretty exploitative but the characters are sterotypes or mouthpieces at least as often as they're people, and as a whole it all seems very contrived to manipulate. has its moments though, many of them musical.

Superb for most of the time, but falls apart in the end. Great directing.

A heartfelt story that feels very real, coupled with beautiful settings and cinematography, and fantastic music. The religion/stem-cell bit did feel off, but I didn't mind too much as it's more about the father looking for someone/something to blame rather than actual religious criticism.

Filmde önemli bir yer tutan country müzik, hızlı temposu ve duygusal patlama anlarıyla Belçika'da geçen bir Amerikan bağımsızı. Duygusal anlamdaki yoğunluğunu, sinematik olarak kısıtlı ölçüde destekleyebiliyor. Ama doğrusal olmayan zaman akışının filme ilginç bir yön kattığını söylemek mümkün.

The most american European film I have ever seen (in a good way). So many touchy subjects, so much more than you would expect from it.

muzisyen, serkes bi hayati benimsemis bi adamla dovmeci karinin evlilik sarsintisi. cocuklarinin vefatiyla baslayan bu deprem fazla dramatize geldi bana. melodramasi bogdu.

I found The Broken Circle Breakdown to be wonderfully provocative, filled with humanity and despair. The two leads give marvelous performances.

It's about grief and pain, which obviously means that it's devastating, but what an incredibly beautiful, fragile, emotionally complex experience this is. This, like few films before it, PERFECTLY captures what it's like to be a young, vibrant, creative, passionate couple dealing with unspeakable anguish and using that youth, vibrancy, creativity and passion to stay afloat. The kind of movie you want to protect. And the musical sequences are utterly glorious.

Could have done without the 2001: A Space Odyssey ending, but other than that it was a great film.

evlilik, kanser, kanser hastasi çocuk, anne-baba, tanisma, müstehcen, ölüm, bunalim, ateist adam, müzisyen, Bluegrass, dövmeli kadin, müzik, cama çarpan kuşun ölmesi, inanç (kizlari kanser hastasi olan anne-baba küçük kizlarinin sagliga kavusmasi için çabalamaktadir. Fakat bu süreç kolay degildir. kiz ölür. iki taraf birbirini suçlar. adam tanriyi ve dindarlari suçlar -TV'deki Bush embriyo kök hücre tedavisini veto eder. Kadin bunalima girer. iki kez intihar eder. Finalde adam ötenazi...

Unusually strong for a flemish film, this painful piece has a lot to offer: strong performances, a beautiful soundtrack and a very credible taste of real pain... Unfortunately, the film fails to really hold on to the viewer's attention and gets very dull from time to time... but still: well done Felix and Johan!

After "Loft", "Hasta La Vista", "Bullhead" and other flicks another Belgian production absolutely worth watching. Just amazing performances by Heldenbergh and Baetens with which they are transcending Belgian levels and hopefully get spotted and appreciated by a broader public. Controversal at times but well paced and never over the top. The story is accompanied with some superb musical interventions and the tenderness of the love story makes this hard story even magical at times. Must see.