Here
Lovers of minimalist cinema should welcome this poetic Belgian drama from Bas Devos.
Earlier this year Wim Wenders gave us one of his best films in the Tokyo-set Perfect Days. It was a study of a loner wonderfully played by Koji Yakusho who had the ability to find joy in a modest life and beauty in nature. Superbly done though it was, some admirers of Wenders may have found it a bit too minimalistic for their taste as it followed the daily routines of its hero at length. Anyone who felt that way should stay well clear of Here because this Belgian film set in Brussels not only carries echoes of Perfect Days but it is even more minimalistic. However, if its style may render this film one of somewhat specialised appeal, I do not hesitate to say that Bas Devos the writer/director of Here can be accounted a real artist, a man with a vision of his own. I have not come across his work before (Here is in fact his fourth feature) and what I have read about his earlier work suggests that at least some of it is very different, but what is apparent is that Here is a fully realised personal work. You don't need to be into avant-garde cinema to appreciate it, but it does call for an audience ready to adjust to what Devos has to offer.
We first encounter Stefan (Stefan Gota) with his fellow workers on a construction site. This is at a time when Stefan is due for leave lasting some four weeks and he is planning to return to his native Romania where his mother still resides. During the weekend before his planned departure, he puts in hand various tasks including clearing out his fridge and making soup from leftovers which he gives to friends. But it also becomes clear that although he has made Brussels his home – as has his sister Anca (Alina Constantin) – he is toying with the idea of prolonging his visit to Romania even to the extent of not returning. Perhaps he hopes to find something there which has eluded him in Belgium. If his life is essentially that of a loner (he lives on his own) he lacks the contentment that the hero of Perfect Days has achieved.
That could suggest that Here is the obverse of Perfect Days but the fact is that the vision of Stefan’s life presented to us by Devos is one that indicates that everyday existence in Brussels carries within it a world of beauty for anyone who has eyes to see. Here is not without a storyline since it also shows us scenes from the life of another person living in the city, a Belgian-Chinese woman named Shuxiu (Liyo Gong) who is an academic and scientist whose interest in botany has led to her being a bryologist with a particular interest in mosses. We meet her at work yet also see her calling on her aunt who runs a café which is where she eventually comes across Stefan for the first time. A second chance encounter when she is at work in the woods finds a rapport growing between them but all of this develops slowly. It would be fair, I think, to regard Here as a love story but it simply shows the possibility of love between these two and leads only to a clear indication of that rather than anything more specific and assertive. Liyo Gong’s facial expressions in the concluding scene are especially well-judged.
In a sense Here is attempting two things which are clearly not unrelated. If Stefan and Shuxiu are starting on a course that could find them becoming partners, then it's a relationship which would give an extra meaning to Stefan's life. But, even if that were not to happen, Devos is seeking to show throughout this film the potential that exists in responding to what is around us. Part of that lies in an awareness of nature for, despite the urban setting, Here is a film which in addition to Shuxiu's special interests emphasises the woods and trees to be found in various parts of Brussels. Yet Devos in asking us to look closely goes beyond that. Working with Grimm Vandekerckhove, as his photographer and using the old 1.37:1 ratio, he ensures that every image in the film is striking. Even a block under construction, an ordinary street or a small apartment that would normally count as uninspiring become settings that reveal beauty within them: be it the way that the light falls in the shot, the composition, the colour tones or the design that is apparent, Devos uses aesthetic representations to bring home to us what can be found by being responsive to our surroundings in a positive way.
This poetic view of life’s potential is key albeit that it needs to blend with the personal story unfolding. Indeed, the human concern in Here is an important part of it and is well illustrated by the way in which a number of subsidiary figures come vividly to life despite not being developed at length (Stefan’s sister is an example of this and another is the mechanic who works on Stefan's car and is played by the late Teodor Corban to whose memory the film is dedicated). Sketched unhurriedly as it is, it makes sense that Here runs for less than an hour and a half and, even as it stands, there is a sense that a long walk outdoors shared by Stefan and Shuxiu is over-extended especially when it indulges rural montages that leave the two participants behind. But any reservations on my part are minor for Here, complete with a most judicious use of the music score provided by Brecht Ameel, persuades us that Bas Devos is his own man and has given us a film that bears the stamp of a talented and individual artist.
MANSEL STIMPSON
Cast: Stefan Gota, Liyo Gong, Cedric Luvuezo, ShuHuang Wang, Teodor Corban, Saadia Bentaïeb, Alina Constantin, Sanae Kamlichi, Jovial Mbenga, Victor Claudio Zichil, Stella Kitoga.
Dir Bas Devos, Pro Marc Goyens, Screenplay Bas Devos, Ph Grimm Vandekerckhove, Pro Des Spela Tusar, Ed Dieter Diependaele, Music Brecht Ameel, Costumes Manon Blom.
Quetzalcoatl/1080 Films/KC Nona/Proximus/Shelter Production/Kunstencentrum Buda-New Wave Films.
84 mins. Belgium. 2023. UK Rel: 7 June 2024. Cert. PG.
