Festival de Cannes 2022 | Belgian directors and two heartbreaking stories about childhood

Two films about childhood screened as part of the competition at the Cannes Film Festival this year. Both of them were masterpieces by Belgian filmmakers. “Tori and Lokita” by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne and “Close” by Lukas Dhont captured the feelings and attachments of childhood and adolescence. The film Close, however, deals with the psychological, while Tori and Lokita has a more social focus.

Considering Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s previous films like The Promise, The Son, and Lorna’s Silence, Tori and Lokita is perhaps the darkest film they have ever made. As opposed to many of their previous works, in which the social-realist despair was at least partially punctured by some kind of hope or grace, Belgium’s leading filmmakers are not going for an easy ending this time.

Lokita (Joely Mbundu), a teenage girl, is being interrogated by social services. She is claiming that Tori (Pablo Schils), who is 10 years old, is her brother, when in fact they are from completely different countries and met on a boat. While they make a few coins by singing Italian songs at a restaurant, they also sell drugs outside nightclubs for a local dealer. They do great work. The perilous storyline raises Tori and Lokita’s level of dependence on each other. In a world that doesn’t care whether they live or die, they have bravely forged a path for themselves.

Aside from that, we have a film by Lukas Dhont. He won the Camera d’Or at Cannes in 2018 for Girl, which tells the story of a trans woman trying to dance on pointe with her friends. Lukas Dhont returns with Close to this year’s Cannes competition.

In the roles of Rémi and Léo, rising stars Gustav De Waele and Eden Dambrine give impressive performances.

Leo and Remi, neighbors and friends, enjoy a close relationship that is clearly special. Their shared passions and equal interest in each other’s pursuits enables them to be emotionally close and are not afraid to express feelings. Their classmates simply ask “Are you together?” when they are back at school after a relaxing summer. Several people have told them that their friendship is not normal, and no one wants to be different in middle school. Even though the boys become hostile, “Close” is characterized by the deeply sad idea that Leo is purposely ignoring Remi out of self-denial. As a result of this ignoring, Leo enters a heartbreaking phase of his life, and the rest of the film revolves around his experiences.

In Dhont’s work, the seasons are elegantly symbolized as they change. Summer’s carefree energy ends with the harvest, leading to a winter of shared unhappiness.

Close has immense potential for awards across a wide range of categories. It is one of the most impressive films in this year’s competition.