Bruges, that silent (1981)

Directed by: Roland Verhavert | 93 minutes | drama | Actors: Idwig Stephane, Magda Lesage, Chris Boni, Herbert Flack, Caroline Vlerick, Filip Vervoort, Cécile Fondu

Old Flemish cities such as Ghent and Bruges exude romance and nostalgia. No wonder that city lovers like to stay here. Filmmakers and writers also get their inspiration from it. And that’s really not just Belgians and Dutch. For example, Oscar-winning British filmmaker Martin McDonagh recorded ‘In Bruges’ (2008), a crime comedy starring Brendan Gleeson, Ralph Fiennes and Colin Farrell. Bruges was not always so popular. According to tradition, the book ‘Bruges-la-Morte’, written in 1892 by Georges Rodenbach, is partly responsible for this. His description of the then poverty-stricken city initially provoked furious reactions among the people of Bruges, but it also brought the city back to the attention and made more people want to visit Bruges. The city received such a boost that the people of Bruges dared to build and expand the port of Bruges-Zeebrugge, after which the economy started to flourish.

Rodenbach’s novel was filmed in 1981 under the name ‘Brugge, die silente’ by the Flemish filmmaker Roland Verhavert. The story is set at the end of the nineteenth century, the fin de siècle. The well-to-do Bruges native Hugues Viane (Idwig Stephane), in his forties, has just buried his young wife Blanche. He cannot forget her and lingers in the past. He spends his days in the glass garden house, which he has furnished with relics (photographs, jewels, a lock of hair) from Blanche. And when he’s not there, he roams the dead streets of Bruges in search of her. One day he sees her. At least that’s what he thinks. The young dancer Jeanne (Magda Lesage, here under the pseudonym Eve Lyne) looks very much like his deceased wife. Hugues becomes intrigued by her appearance, chases her and gives her a medallion from Blanche. Jeanne is overwhelmed by all this attention and in turn becomes more and more fond of her admirer. However, Hugues has not told her about his deceased wife and becomes conflicted with himself. When the deeply religious Hugues vents his heart to the confessor (Herbert Flack), he advises him to end the relationship immediately. But can he let her go…?

The leading role in this modest film is not for Idwig Stephane, but for the city of Bruges. Certainly in the first 45 minutes of the film that lasts one and a half hours, director Roland Verhavert has an extensive eye for the city with its stately mansions with their impressive facades, the dreamy canals and the medieval ambiance that Bruges exudes – perhaps even a little too much. . It is striking that you hardly see people on the street in Verhavert’s Bruges. You can even hear the echoing footsteps of the wandering Hugues, it is so dead quiet. Melancholy reigns supreme here. The town is a symbol of Hugue’s life since Blanche’s death, which is just as empty and dead. He has always lived according to the restrictions of his environment and his faith, and he clings to them frantically. The riotous, spontaneous Jeanne doesn’t fit into his pattern, but he can’t resist her because of her resemblance to Blanche. As a viewer you can’t get through his armor, which is a shame. Because he is so closed, unsympathetic and hostile, it is difficult to empathize with him.

That is also the biggest shortcoming of ‘Bruges, die silent’; the film is so subdued that it comes across as cold and distant. It is probably Verhavert’s intention (because he emphatically puts his stamp on the whole), but the film never comes to life. The fact that the setting is so far removed from our familiar times does not really help you to empathize. Anyone who is familiar with the novel knows that there is restrained tension here and that it is being worked towards a dramatic climax. However, there is no tension here – not even withheld tension – so that the moment actually comes a bit out of the blue. Fortunately, Stephane and Lesage (in a double role) play solidly, Verhavert shot his images tightly and stylized and the film is supported by a beautiful classic (but sometimes a bit too present) soundtrack. Viewers with a lot of patience can marvel at beautiful atmospheric pictures of Bruges, others should ignore this long-winded film.