Bullhead

Belgium is a country i always wanted to visit. And actually i have plans for next year, since i really enjoyed visiting Holland, Amsterdam was a great city. When it comes to belgian movies, i have only seen a few. I remember enjoying Ben X, a belgian drama about a bully victim, who found a way to escape reality through video games. Bullhead is a critically acclaimed motion picture, who won several awards on different film festivals. With so much positive reactions around this movie, is Bullhead something extrodinary, or is the hype too big?

Jacky Vanmarsenille ( Matthias Schoenaerts ) lives on his dads farm, working as a cattle farmer. His family have been involved for many years in doing illegal business with animal steroids. When Jacky was a young boy, a group of other boys crushed his testicles with a rock. The family behind the boy behind this tries to keep this quiet. Now as an adult, Jacky can´t forget about the past. He use steroids to ease the pain, and sorrow. Police starts to investigate a murder of an federal police man, with connections to the illegal meat market. But that´s not the only problem. Jacky´s mood shifts extremely negative, to the side effext from the steroids. He wants to revenge what happened to him all those years ago, and see no other way out.

I think i might have a new favourite actor on my list. Matthias Schoenaerts is completely brilliant as the steroids junkie Jacky, who see no future, only misery and pain. When he starts to let the anger out, i am completely shocked how well he brings this character to the big screen. Absolutely fantastic. The other side story of the illegal business doesn´t feel as interesting as the story of Jacky, that´s where the real power kicks in. Without Matthias Schoenaerts, Bullhead would not have made such a big impression as it does now. But still, this is a really good dark drama with much to say. Most people have probably heard about how some farmers use steroids on animals, but what if the farmer also use them on himself?  Interesting perspective, well acted all the way. Bullhead deserves to be seen, it´s one of those movies that will leave you with many thoughts.

Rating: DDDD