The small Belgian community of Vitrival, with a population of around 1,500, finds itself with a much higher profile these days. That is courtesy of Vitrival — The Most Beautiful Village in the World, the debut feature from Belgian writers-directors Noëlle Bastin, who grew up there, and Baptiste Bogaert. If you wonder what to expect, well, the movie, which world premiered at the Rotterdam Film Festival earlier this year, doesn’t fit neatly into traditional cinematic categories.
Is it comedic? Definitely, as its depictions of small-town life in a real-life Belgian village will make you chuckle. Does it have dramatic elements? For sure, given a wave of suicides that plagues the village. Does it provide a healthy serving of slice of life? Yes. After all, it follows two police officers, who are cousins, driving around and interacting with other inhabitants. Does it mix reality and fiction? Totally. Among other things, key roles in the film are portrayed by real-life inhabitants of the village, including members of Bastin’s family.
But the filmmakers aren’t too concerned with classifications. “For us, it’s just life,” Bogaert tells THR. “You can cry in the morning and you can laugh in the afternoon.” In fact, focusing too much on old genre labels could prove a disservice to film fans. Some audiences who come expecting a pure comedy may actually end up “a bit disappointed because it’s not all that funny,” argues Bogaert. “There are funny parts in it, but it’s not a ‘ha ha ha’ movie all the way.”
ND Pictures has just taken the movie for the Benelux region, with a theatrical release set for Nov. 12.
Now, Vitrival, a Naoko Films production, is getting its Asian premiere in the main competition program of the 15th edition of the Beijing International Film Festival on Tuesday, which the filmmakers both find “exciting.”
On their first-ever trip outside of Europe, they look forward to seeing how audiences react to their story set in Belgium. “I’m really curious, especially if the audience will laugh,” Bastin tells THR. “We don’t know how the audience will react, because we don’t have any idea of the cultural differences,” adds Bogaert.
Still, the Beijing stop on the film festival circuit means that Vitrival gets to play on a big stage and showcase its titular village far beyond Belgium’s borders.
