This year’s festival is 1) hosted by Belgium 2) runs for a very short time 3) each movie is screened only once 4) I am in town for it, which usually I am in Europe at this time of the year!
I went to the opening night on Friday. I do not regret that I went, because the movie (Omen) was extraordinary, but I think it was a little bit too much on many levels. First, it is a very loaded movie, and very difficult to watch, and the trailer I embedded below does not include the darkest parts of it. Second, everything was way longer than I planned. The start of the screening was supposed to be at 7 PM but in reality, 7 PM was the time of the festival opening and the Belgium General Counsul speech. Also, the film director was present, and he talked a little bit before the movie, telling us what he wanted us to pay attention to. After the movie, there was a Q&A session, which was great, except for I didn’t plan to be there for so long, and after a very intensive week, I was almost collapsing on my way home.
I am still processing this movie. I think it represents the unresolvable conflict between those who left and those who stayed behind. And even though the film director urged us to see this story from four different perspectives (that’s how the movie is built, consisting of four separate parts), I do not see any way of all the characters coming together…
Hettie's Reflections 