Verboden te zuchten

Brussels, 1999. Joris (26) is alone again after his first love comes to an end. He has decided to exchange `the city of his life’ for sunnier climes. However a premonition prevents him from making his way to the station. He turns back on his tracks and temporarily moves into an old hotel. He stays there for four days and nights, gripped by the city, in a twilight zone between remembering and forgetting, between dreaming and waking…That is a brief summary of what the maker has to say about this modest, charming sketch of a young man who briefly has no idea how to proceed in life. Feature débutant Alex Stockman started with the idea of a funeral wreath of Joris’ love (‘1997-1999’) and with the thought of a close-lipped face somewhere between Buster Keaton and Michel from Pickpocket. He wanted to film a solitary journey in the city that both comforts and depresses. That resulted in an atmospheric black and white film, that is also an homage to the unique city of Brussels, with its strange mixture of languages and styles, and to the brilliant, subdued role of Stefan Perceval, who earlier played brilliantly in Stockman’s short film Story of a Hurried Young Man. A large part of the film is set in a derelict old hotel where Joris bumps into a variety of passers-by. Stockman manages to find a tone that balances beautifully between humour and melancholy. In addition the film is characterised by echoes of Godard, Tati and Kafka, and a well-chosen soundtrack.