Belgica(EUFF 2017)

The director, van Groeningen, whose film The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012), was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film of the Year at the Oscars, made his 5th feature film inspired by a real-life Charlatan Bar in Ghent owned by his father. The story was praised by the critics as “a realistic tale of hedonism gone wrong”. Frank, a middle-aged white man who is bored with his daily life, including his sluggish car business and dull housework, decides to turn his younger brother Jo’s bar into a nightclub. Different from Frank, who barely knows anything about running a club, Jo is more responsible and has a strong passion for music. Their experimental club soon becomes a big success. However, things get out of hands. Drugs, alcohol and the big differences between the brothers start to spoil the fun...