Don't Believe the Hype

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Worlds collide when Mavela, a teenage girl with ties to Brussels' Black Bronx gang, meets Marwan, a member of a rival Moroccan gang, at a police station, after they have both been arrested for theft. Aware of the consequences of getting involved with someone from another gang, they at first resist their attraction to one another, but they can only resist for so long. Just when they've started to imagine a different life for themselves, a terrifying incident reminds Mavela where she belongs.......From the plot summary, you'll instantly recognise it as Romeo & Juliet, which this film is loosely based upon. But bear in mind this isn't Baz Lurhmann's world, so don't expect The Cardigans to be playing over the fairy tale-esque cinematography.This is far beyond the realms of the star cross'd lovers, and even though the fundamental story arc involving the two lovers is basically the Bard gone bad, this is a gritty urban nightmare with much similarities to City Of God, and in some instances, The Warriors.And while each film in this obscure sub-genre is quite unique and gives you something to sit up and take notice at, they have one predictable trope they all share, it won't end well....It's a hard watch, from beginning to end, and despite moments of levity between the lovers, the film has an abundance of despair evident.It's a grimy film, oozing with dirt, anger, and hatred. And although barely any of the characters are likable, you cannot help but pity them and their families.Yes, they are striking fear into the locals, laughing at the police, but one occurrence can change the way these people feel about walking the street, and it does, my word does an occurrence happen in this film.It's not a film that you can watch with ease, it's asks many taboo questions, but never gives the answer that you desire.....there is no light at the end of the tunnel.It's a gripping urban nightmare, and although there are despicable acts depicted, it's an important movie, and should be seen.

It is a Belgian version of the film adaptation of William Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'. But it is modernised and gangsterised crime-drama-romance. Sets in the present Brussels about the two black rivalry gangs, their dispute heats up further after discovering one of the members from each gang has fallen in love. In a result an ultimate gang fight undertakes and what comes after that is we all know it.This is the most harsh version of the most beautiful romance tale. I meant not violently, though there are many fight sequences, but sexual contents were too strong. If you are a fan of the original work, then you might dislike the film. Because the portrayal of Juliet was so unpleasant which is realistic to the real underworld. But if you are a welcoming type, for the updated classical stories, then you will appreciate the effort. Yet it is more a gangster film than the romance. That's why the title is very simple that does not reveal about the influence of 'Romeo and Juliet', unless you read it somewhere else like the film's synopsis and trivia or the reviews.Except it sets in the Belgian capital city, the actors, the directors all are not what I expected. I mean it does not give the Dutch/Flemish atmosphere, but like it happens in the middle-east. Since the focus was on the underworld gangs, all the film characters were African immigrants of mostly first and second generation, but the two different regional races, the Moroccans and the black Africans. The first half was not good as I hoped for, but got better after the most waited romance parts were emerged."You were born here, but you're still different. You will always be a foreigner."I did not get the 'Romeo and Juliet' vibe for this film, because it was not actually a revised version, but it roughly borrowed the original plot and nothing much. So you shouldn't anticipate like the story you have known to appear in this film's scenes. From all this, one thing you have to keep in mind before choosing it to watch is that it is not a family or the children friendly film, especially not a date movie.I did not dislike it, but it should have been even better than the overall product. The actors were good and the production quality was much better. The story wise, this film holds no secrets or the twist, because we all know how it begins and ends, but the screen presentation was different with altered scenes and the characters including the locations. So there's more to talk about the filmmaking than the story, except how different it is compared to the Shakespeare's original narrative.This film is one of those where I wanted to like it and rate it better, but I can't for some reasons. The original was a love tragedy that connected with two feuded families, but this film became an ethnic issue that is not welcomed for the present world's condition. For the art of filmmaking, it was a fine piece of work and for the entertainment's sake, it is under acceptable limit, but for the morality what a film teaches these days' youngsters is a mislead.All the above, realism wins, because it looks like inspired by the real gang rivalries around the Brussels. To come to end on this kind of opinion only after I saw the film's end report that came before the credits. So it is a good film, well, mostly decent, that's what I think, but opinions differ from person to person. I am not suggesting it, but you may try it to learn what's yours. And finally the end credit song was good.6½/10

Adil El Arbi seems hell-bent on putting migrants into bad daylight, or one would hope...because if this was a factual portrayal of these people we would be right to want them gone as soon as possible. As far as the story goes Adil just took the Romeo & Juliet template and changed some characters names, ethnicities and locations and voila, the script almost wrote itself. Really, this drains the film of almost any surprises coz we all know how that story went. That's just being lazy Adil... As a plus, I do have to say the movie is well shot. The camera-work and cinematography is pretty good. The music as you might have guessed is horrible, atrocious rap music, that's what the gangsta boys listen to innit. But we all know that this is the lowest form of music after Flemish Butcher songs right? So turn the sound off or watch with earplugs. And now for the biggest problem of the whole movie: the characters. These are the biggest bunch of violent, stealing, raping a-holes you would never want to associate with, live in the neighborhood off or even encounter in your lifetime. Normally you as a watcher should be able to sympathize with or at least root for the protagonists but this film makes that very difficult. The black girl is about the only one you can feel for but the rest of these mothers could not die fast enough for me. Just as in 'IMAGE' these migrant characters have nothing but contempt for each other (Blacks vs Moroccans) but most of all for the working class Flemish people. We seems to be the bottom of the barrel for them. That nukes all hope that integrating these people in our society will ever have a chance, or that is what this film is shouting to us in capital letters. Adding insult to injury: this film is financed partially by the VAF, but the only Flemish words spoken in this flick are curse words like 'klootzak', 'makkak', 'hoer', etc...money well spent VAF... So if you want to get royally p*ssed off watch this movie, if you want a couple of hours of solid entertainment watch Deadpool.

'Yes, I read books by Shakespeare', says a young gang member jokingly when he is interrogated by the police. Without doubt, this scene in 'Black' is meant as a little innuendo. The film is the latest cinematographic adaptation of Shakespeare's play 'Romeo and Juliet'.'Black' is set in Brussels, where territories are divided between Moroccan street gangs and rival gangs of black Africans. When Moroccan teenager Marwan is waiting in the police station after having been arrested for theft, he meets the pretty African girl Mavela, who is caught for the same reason. They exchange telephone numbers, and start an affair. Because they are members of different gangs, this is enough reason for an exchange of violent attacks by the gangs. Several girls are gang raped or forced to participate in holdups, the boys organize gang fights.The film is very fast-paced and dynamic, capturing the inner city gang life with dark, sinister images and impressive establishing shots, making Brussels look like an urban jungle not much different from the Bronx or Compton.But beneath this succession of beautiful shots, there is not much substance. The screenplay doesn't contain much suspense because everyone knows the Romeo and Juliet storyline. The dialogue consists mostly of four letter words. The characters are mostly one-dimensional. All white cops are sadistic racists, all black men are heartless macho's, all girls are sexy and submissive. The film makers miss the opportunity to develop interesting characters, like Mina, a policewoman of Moroccan descent. We never learn how she copes with being hated by members of her own ethnic group.In view of the Paris attacks of November 13th, the film has an interesting extra dimension. The Moroccan street gang is named '1080', which is the zip code for Molenbeek, the quarter in Brussels where the atrocities were being prepared and planned. You can't help but think that Marwan could just as well have been one of the attackers.Another interesting thing are the subtle references to Belgian linguistic squabbles. From time to time, Marwan and Mavela switch from French to Dutch, but purely in a mocking way. They hate the Flemish policemen who address them in Dutch, and when Marwan tells his imprisoned brother that he wants to start a legitimate garage business, he is accused of being 'Flemish'. Knowing that both directors are from Flanders, this is a nice pun.