The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012)
Genre: Drama / Music
Duration: 111 minuten
Country:
Belgium / Netherlands
Directed by: Felix van Groeningen
Stars: Veerle Baetens, Johan Heldenbergh and Nell Cattrysse
IMDb score:
7,7 (45.311)
Releasedate: 9 October 2012
The Broken Circle Breakdown plot
'The Broken Circle Breakdown' tells the intense love story between Elise (28) and Didier (36). She has her own tattoo shop, he is a Flemish cowboy who plays the banjo in a band. It's love at first sight... although the differences are big. Water and fire, totally different yet perfectly compatible. The birth of daughter Maybelle completes their happiness. Until disaster strikes and Maybelle falls seriously ill. Didier loses himself in anger, Elise seeks solace.
Reviews & comments
Roger Thornhill
-
- 6195 messages
- 2546 votes
A powerhouse of emotions, presented in an exemplary manner and with a strong bounce. Mixing up the chronology of scenes is a trick I've seen many times (Betrayal, Memento, Irréversible) but not often enough to boring, and with the science of later, the earlier scenes in this movie become extra painful in a very effective way, so for me that trick works great here. I once read that one in three marriages in which a child dies collapses within a few years; in case anyone wonders why, you can see it happening right here before your very eyes. I can well imagine it too: the inability to comfort each other, shutting yourself up in your own grief, actually not being there anymore, the bitterness of the first time you go to bed together - all very tangible here depicted.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Alathir
-
- 2143 messages
- 1647 votes
After Beautiful Boy I wanted to see more of Felix Van Groeningen's oeuvre. I thought that might be the best movie of 2018 along with The Nightingale. The Broken Circle Breakdown is a tearjerker, but maybe it's a bit too much. I don't really have anything to do with the music, but that's not necessary, it's just a family that is badly affected by the suffering of their daughter Maybelle. I think it is more intense for people with a daughter / son of that age or people with children anyway. It didn't quite work for me, although it's certainly not a bad film and I also got a lump in my throat at the end.
Translated from Dutch · View original
B.B. Jim
-
- 46 messages
- 38 votes
What a good movie, totally surprised;
How could I have missed such a good movie..
It's Saturday morning when I make a cup of coffee and sit down next to my girlfriend. The weekend wake up ritual.
'what are you looking at?'
The broken circle breakdown has been going on for about 20 minutes, it means nothing to me.
A standard Rtl4/Net5/SBSdrama I guess.. Meh..
But I'm drawn into it.
What beautiful colorful people, what nice good music.
I quickly got into the story.
The daughter with her little people life questions, answered by her father who actually wants to respond very mature, unfeeling but honest (in his opinion).
This, in the end, wrapped in a beautiful answer that a small child will always remember.
'So you may see something that's already gone, but that's okay. Because the light from such an asterisk will always stay where it goes. Beyond your eyes. Always further and further. So such an asterisk will always exist, forever and always..'
That's what parents do, to ease the pain for their child, even if it is sometimes not the truth.
You feel in everything that there is something terrible in the air.
Somewhere halfway through the film, the parents are confronted with the truth.
The non-chronological narration of the story, the flashbacks in the film, the moments of silence, work perfectly for me.
How much music can add to a story.
The movie is over and the coffee has gone cold.
I just hope 'hollywood' stays away from it.
But maybe the people who went to the play did think, hope the film industry stays away from it?
I'm not into theatre, but this was one I would have liked to have gone to.
Translated from Dutch · View originalLatest News
How Serious Film Fans Are Watching in 2026 — And Why the Home Setup Has Never Mattered More
How Much Money Has the Portrayal of Casinos Brought Into the Movie Industry?
The Death of the CGI Safety Net: Why We’re Craving Real Stakes Again
How Media Business Insights Shape Online Casino Marketing Strategies in 2026
Corporate & Media
Realtimes Network
Innovatieweg 20C
7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31(315)-764002
