And Where the Star Stood Still (2010)

Directed by: Gust Van Den Berghe | 73 minutes | drama | Actors: Peter Janssens, Paul Mertens, Jelle Palmaerts

Filmed in minimalist black and white, but powerful debut film by Gust Van Den Berghe about three beggar friends (they are called bums) who suddenly become rich singing songs on Christmas Eve and – like the Three Wise Men from the East – at the birth of the “baby” Jesus are present. They decide to give away their newly acquired wealth, but soon they start to doubt it. Their adventures are also followed in the following years, again at Christmas, as they grow further and further apart.

‘And where the star stood still’ is primarily an experimental film and certainly not – to quote an English saying – everyone’s “cup of tea”. In fact, seasoned art house-goers and film festival enthusiasts in particular will enjoy it. The general public will – partly unjustly, but also understandably – walk around it with a wide berth.

What is special about the film is that the three leading roles are played by actors with Down syndrome: Peter Janssen (Schrobbebeeck), Paul Mertens (Pitje Vogel) and Jelle Palmaerts (Suskewiet). Some supporting roles also feature actors with intellectual disabilities. This choice by director Van Den Berghe is original and has, among other things, the effect that the dialogues (“It is not easy to be human”) are given an extra charge. The slow diction and the fact that the actors sometimes don’t seem to understand what they’re saying takes some getting used to. That abrasiveness between the form and the content was undoubtedly the intention of the makers, but although the film only lasts for fifteen minutes, it does require some stamina from the viewer.

The acting forms a nice contrast with the visual strengths – and at the same time complements them excellently. To say the film looks beautiful is an understatement. And to think that Gust Van Den Berghe was only 25 years old at the premiere of the film and ‘And where the star remained silent’ is also his graduation film at the Erasmus Hogeschool in Brussels. That he is undeniably a great talent, he immediately shows with this film. It is not without reason that the film toured various European film festivals and won a number of prizes.

Many scenes are beautifully stylized, often with shots that are almost perfect in terms of composition. To give one example of one shot with a lot of class, there is a moment where the three protagonists sit under two trees in three swings hanging side by side, with the sun shining behind the clouds on the side of the frame. But that is certainly not the only visual tour de force. Sheep herding literally under the smoke of power plants, the crucifixes in boats bobbing on the water, there is plenty to see and do. Moreover, the film is not without a good portion of alienating incidents, which balance on the edge of absurdism. What to think, for example, of the brass band that parades pontifically through the image and is present in the background during many crucial scenes.

The film is based on the play of the same name by the Flemish writer and poet Felix Timmermans (1886-1947). Timmermans wrote the work in 1924, already a well-known and celebrated, but not uncontroversial author. He fought for (more) independence for Flanders and therefore collaborated with the German occupiers during the First World War. Van den Berghe adapted the text by Timmermans himself into a screenplay.

‘And where the star stood still’ breathes an almost mystical atmosphere, in which the black and white offers excellent support. Van Den Berghe manages to inject tangible magic into the film and the images last long after the credits begin. It is not without reason that the film was acclaimed in Flanders and ‘En where the star remained silent’ went into circulation in more cinemas at the same time than any other Flemish film.