Aaltra

Aaltra, a glorious road movie for wheelchair users, is black humour in the Walloon style. The directors may have French passports (the production is Belgian) but that does not detract from the achievement. Ben and Gus, one a farmer and the other a commuter, are neighbours in a small Belgian village, but they cannot stand each other. In addition, both are unhappy with their lives. A coincidence leads to a fight and an accident on an agricultural machine. In the hospital, they both turn out to be paralysed from the waist down and have to spend the rest of their lives in wheelchairs.They reject the possibility of suicide and, instead, undertake a strange journey to Finland, to find the manufacturer of the agricultural equipment that caused their handicap. During their journey, the relationship between the two fighting cocks and their view of life changes.The feature début by directors, actors and writers Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern is consistent and disrespectful, dryly comic and captivating. They shot Aaltra (the title refers to the brand of agricultural machinery) in beautiful black & white Cinemascope, a choice that does justice to the variety of landscapes. The directors also stoically play the leading roles. In addition, they managed to put together quite a cast of cameos, including a handful of very famous Belgians and one well?known Finnish director.