{"id":593736,"date":"2023-10-09T21:58:59","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T18:58:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/here-review-belgian-dramas-poetic-gaze-is-low-key-and-profoundly-affecting\/"},"modified":"2023-10-09T21:58:59","modified_gmt":"2023-10-09T18:58:59","slug":"here-review-belgian-dramas-poetic-gaze-is-low-key-and-profoundly-affecting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/here-review-belgian-dramas-poetic-gaze-is-low-key-and-profoundly-affecting\/","title":{"rendered":"#\u2018Here\u2019 Review: Belgian Drama\u2019s Poetic Gaze Is Low-Key and Profoundly Affecting"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a381d1bee33b\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a381d1bee33b\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/here-review-belgian-dramas-poetic-gaze-is-low-key-and-profoundly-affecting\/#Here\" >Here<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    Alone at dusk in his Brussels apartment, Stefan, a gentle Romanian construction worker, speaks a few words as if to try them on for size. \u201cThis is my home,\u201d he says, unconvinced and unconvincing. In Stefan Gota\u2019s subdued and graceful performance, the character\u2019s forlorn ache is unspecified and fully felt. There are sleepless nights, long walks, bowls of homemade soup and heartfelt conversations, rich in silence, with people he knows and others he\u2019s just met. And there\u2019s the visual conversation that frames Stefan\u2019s story, the interplay of windblown greenery and the sharp angles of urban high-rises.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    <em>Here<\/em> is writer-director Bas Devos\u2019 fourth feature (after <em>Violet<\/em>, <em>Hellhole<\/em> and <em>Ghost Tropic<\/em>), named best film in Berlin\u2019s Encounters section and taking its stateside bow at the New York Film Festival. It\u2019s a modestly proportioned movie of quiet magnificence, one that feels spun of gossamer summer light and rooted in unshakeable depths. <\/p>\n<div class=\"review-summary-card\">\n<div class=\" lrv-u-flex lrv-u-flex-direction-column@mobile-max lrv-u-padding-a-125 u-background-color-honey-light \">\n<div class=\"lrv-u-flex lrv-u-flex-direction-column u-width-275@tablet u-border-b-1@mobile-max u-border-r-1@tablet u-border-dotted lrv-u-margin-r-150 lrv-u-padding-r-150 lrv-u-margin-r-00@mobile-max lrv-u-padding-r-00@mobile-max lrv-u-padding-b-125@mobile-max lrv-u-margin-b-075@mobile-max\">\n<h3 id=\"title-of-a-story\" class=\"c-title  lrv-u-font-family-primary u-font-size-34 u-font-size-38@desktop-xl lrv-u-line-height-small lrv-u-margin-b-125 \"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Here\"><\/span>\n<p>                    Here        <\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>                    <span class=\"lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase lrv-u-font-family-accent lrv-u-font-weight-bold lrv-u-color-brand-primary lrv-u-font-size-16 lrv-u-display-block\">The Bottom Line<\/span><br \/>\n                    <span class=\"c-span  u-font-size-22@tablet u-font-style-italic lrv-u-font-family-secondary\"><\/p>\n<p>    Precisely where it should be.<br \/>\n    <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"lrv-u-line-height-large a-children-icon-spacing-none lrv-u-font-family-accent lrv-u-font-size-18\">\n<p>                            <strong>Venue:<\/strong> New York Film Festival (Main Slate)<br \/><strong>Cast:<\/strong> Stefan Gota, Liyo Gong, Cedric Luvuezo, Teodor Corban, Saadia Benta\u00efeb, Alina Constantin, ShuHuan Wang<br \/><strong>Director-screenwriter:<\/strong> Bas Devos<\/p>\n<p>            <span><br \/>\n                                1 hour 24 minutes           <\/span>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    Working in the 4:3 format, Devos and cinematographer Grimm Vandekerckhove trace Stefan\u2019s wanderings and encounters, and the tender spark that ignites between him and a Chinese-Belgian doctoral student whose focus is mosses, in scenes that have a carefully composed stillness and yet are brimming with life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    In ways that are deft and involving, <em>Here<\/em> takes its time before zeroing in on its protagonist, first establishing the camaraderie among Stefan and his construction crew buddies as they bid one another so-long, all of them preparing to return to their home countries for the vacation break. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    Stefan hints that he might stay in Romania longer \u2014 as in, for good \u2014 and the next few days of leave-taking blossom into a serpentine ramble through his adopted city. There\u2019s also a sense of taking stock, of tying up loose ends, beginning with the need to empty his refrigerator. Stefan makes a beautiful soup from the vegetables he forages there and divvies it up into containers for friends. The first of these he brings to hotel employee Cedric (Cedric Luvuezo), who heats the potion for them to share, talking about fatherhood and listening to Stefan\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a> that a childhood friend is in prison.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    That hometown development is of particular interest to Stefan\u2019s older sister Anca (Alina Constantin), a nurse, who hears it over mugs of the veggie concoction when Stefan visits during her nightshift. Her concern for her single, insomniac brother is sincere, and at moments doesn\u2019t quite skirt condescension. Their humor-tinged exchange perfectly encapsulates how much can go unspoken in sibling bonds, as well as what can be missing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    As he traverses the city in his fashion-agnostic shorts, there\u2019s a sharp goad of hopefulness to Stefan\u2019s interactions and his solitude. At a community garden he asks about the mysterious seeds that have somehow landed in his jacket pocket, easily connecting with the woman he meets there. And on a rainy evening at a small Chinese restaurant run by ShuHuan (ShuHuan Wang), he eagerly engages in small talk with the owner\u2019s niece ShuXiu (Liyo Gong, superb in her curiosity and introspection).<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    But before Stefan\u2019s initial chance to be intrigued by her, Devos has introduced ShuXiu at her work as a bryologist, collecting, studying and cataloging mosses, and in voiceover, relating a dream bordering on nightmare. She dreamed of a world in which she\u2019d lost the ability to name everyday things, language suddenly beyond her reach. \u201cThen,\u201d she says, t<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ing into the movie\u2019s unhysterical appreciation of life\u2019s curveballs and challenges, \u201cI got up and made coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    When their paths cross again, Stefan is on the long walk to the mechanic\u2019s shop where his car is being readied for the drive to Romania, and ShuXiu is busy collecting and studying moss specimens. Her fieldwork entrances him. He\u2019s drawn into a world of unsung beauty, easy to miss unless you\u2019re looking for it. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    In the microscopic patterns ShuXiu offers Stefan, and in the way these two almost-strangers are enveloped by a parkland\u2019s rich green understory, Vandekerckhove\u2019s camerawork is keenly attuned to the story\u2019s synchronous planes, all of them in full, unannounced blossom throughout the film. Nature and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">science<\/a>. Spirit and emotion. Mechanics and magic. The delicate tones of Brecht Ameel\u2019s music and Boris Debackere\u2019s sound design complete the quotidian-cosmic universe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    By the end of <em>Here<\/em>, Stefan has dug up something enchanted on one of his midnight perambulations and, even more memorable, shared an al fresco lunch (his soup the main course) and a conversation about mortality with the Romanian mechanics working on his car. <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    The vehicle is declared a \u201cworn-out wreck,\u201d with intense sympathy, by the business\u2019 owner, Mihai. He\u2019s played by an extraordinary actor, Teodor Corban (<em>12:08 East of Bucharest<\/em>, <em>Aferim!<\/em>), who died in January and to whom the film is dedicated. That this is Corban\u2019s final screen role makes his character\u2019s philosophical observations on aging all the more poignant. But they\u2019d cut deep no matter what. Mihai notes the growing list of things he\u2019ll never do, and, having recently had a defibrillator implanted, declares that \u201ctime disappears\u201d under <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> anesthesia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    Leave it to Stefan, compassionate and, though it might take a lifetime for him to recognize it, wise beyond his years, to understand the overwhelming complexity of the older man\u2019s experience. \u201cThey touched your heart,\u201d Stefan says. \u201cThat\u2019s a big deal.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/  a-font-body-m     \">\n    Ditto for Devos\u2019 profound yet miraculously weightless feature. It peers head-on at life\u2019s surprises, devastating and precious alike. And yet, while it touches the heart and lovingly knocks you sideways, there\u2019s nothing precious about it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/movies\/movie-reviews\/here-review-bas-devos-belgian-drama-1235594398\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alone at dusk in his Brussels apartment, Stefan, a gentle Romanian construction worker, speaks a few words as if to try them on for size. \u201cThis is my home,\u201d he says, unconvinced and unconvincing. In Stefan Gota\u2019s subdued and graceful performance, the character\u2019s forlorn ache is unspecified and fully felt. There are sleepless nights, long&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":593737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/HERE-Courtesy-of-Cinema-Guild_14-H-2023.jpg?w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[138956,124783,68160],"class_list":["post-593736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-berlin-2023","tag-international","tag-new-york-film-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593736","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=593736"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/593736\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/593737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=593736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=593736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=593736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}