Hampi (2016)

Directed by: Pim Algoed | 22 minutes | comedy, short film | Actors: Jan Bijvoet, Günther Lesage, Arno Moens, Max Pairon, Peter Van den Begin, Sarah Vandeursen

Flemish filmmaker Pim Algoed seems to have a thing for striking film titles. Take his debut ‘Tanguy’s Unifying Theory of Life’ (2007). Or successor ‘How to Enrich Yourself by Driving Women Into Emotional and Financial Bankruptcy’ (2009). Much shorter, but just as intriguing is ‘Hampi’, the title of his 2016 short film.

For those who don’t know what Hampi is: it is a village in India, located in a beautiful environment. It used to be the capital of the Vijayanagar Empire, and the countless ruins and surviving temples are still a reminder of that time. The site has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. And the beginning of ‘Hampi’ also takes place in India. We see the well-known head of Jan Bijvoet as a guru, in charge of a group of young people. The young Thomas (Max Pairon) talks to him and it turns out that things are not going so well on both sides. Thomas doesn’t feel like he’s found what he’s looking for on this spiritual journey, and the guru insists that Thomas go home. After all, he hasn’t paid room and board for a while.

After this different start, we meet Thomas’ family, when they make contact with the home base. Thomas’ father (Peter Van den Begin) is delighted that his son is returning to Belgium, but the rest of the family, especially youngest son Simon (Arno Moens) is sad to see his brother’s return. And of course that can’t go well.

‘Hampi’ is a somewhat crazy short film. There are strange situations from which you conclude that this family is very prototype ‘dysfunctional’. Not all proportions are immediately clear, so to know exactly how the fork sits in the stem, you have to keep looking. That is not difficult, because the actors make it a believable whole, despite the fact that they react slightly differently than you would expect. The question arises what Algoed actually wants with this film and you do not get an answer to that. If you find that aimlessness annoying, ‘Hampi’ is not a movie for you.