GHOST TROPIC

Bas Devos explicitly said about his third feature film: “I want portray a “Brussels woman” like the ones I see in la Cité, in Molenbeek or in the metro. Through the portrait of this woman, I may be able to talk about a little about this generation of under-exposed and under-represented women.” As a maybe distant yet definitely contemporary echo to another famous Belgian film dedicated to another invisible woman, Bas Devos chooses to set the entire plot during a long night in order to “shed light” on this “under-exposition”. Faithful to his laconic way already experienced in his previous films, he has his heroine drift along very mundane situations (a cancelled night bus, an out-of-order debit card, a closing petrol station, etc.). On the one hand, it is obviously the opportunity to describe in extensive detail yet with great restraint the ups and downs of the lower class. On the other hand, it is also decisively so, an extremely respectful and elegant way to approach the increasing complexity of his character. Strictly speaking, there will be no epiphany, but the film manages to gently take this woman out of a merely sociological or even psychological category, choosing her as his nocturnal guide. (J.P.R.)