New Flemish film pulls an In Bruges, in reverse

Thanks to the film In Bruges, we know what happens when an Irish odd couple ends up in Flanders. Now, the favour is returned in Broer (Brother), directed by Geoffrey Enthoven, in which two ill-matched Flemings travel to Ireland in search of riches and revenge.

One of them is Mark, a man who has hit rock bottom. The hotel he runs is bankrupt, and his brother Michel has run off with his wife. The fact that both subsequently died in a car crash is little comfort. He still sees them everywhere in the deserted building, phantoms having sex, betraying him.

Then a message arrives from one of Michel’s old flames, Grace, saying that she wants to meet again now that her husband has died. She lives in Ireland. She is beautiful. She is rich. Mark decides to take Michel’s place, take his woman and take his money.

He is urged on by Ronnie, the closest thing Mark has to a friend. He talks his way into the escapade, hoping for a windfall when Mark marries the rich widow. And off they go, one as inept as the other. Grace is scarcely fooled for a moment. Mark and Ronnie, however, are much slower to realise that all is not as it seems.

Something Tintin-ish

“We wanted to have a really hapless duo, who had to be funny together,” says Enthoven. “Those two going to Ireland to get a fortune – it’s impossible! But that’s just one side of the story.”

The other concerns Mark’s relationship with his brother, and the possibility of a second chance in life. “It’s never too late to find things out, and to change,” the director says.

Weaving together dark and light themes such as these has become a trademark for Enthoven, through films such as Hasta la Vista and Halfway. The two strands of Broer demand the most of Koen De Bouw (Het Vonnis), who as Mark has to be foolish and funny, yet also serious and sympathetic.

The Antwerp actor is no stranger to weighty roles, but his comic turns are rarer and smaller. It was one of these, in the low-brow, low-budget Los Flamencos, that tipped the balance. “He had a really small part as a cop, and he was so funny,” Enthoven says. “I was convinced then that he could do it.”

Titus De Voogt (Welp) proves an excellent comic partner, his clowning accentuated once Ronnie is kitted out in hunting tweeds after a plot twist deprives him of his usual clothes. “It has something Tintin-ish about it as well,” Enthoven observes.

Gothic Ireland

De Bouw’s other foil is Koen De Graeve (Halfweg), who plays Michel, the memory that haunts Mark. This is not exactly a ghost story, Enthoven insists, referring back to the vindictive phantom in Halfway. “You need just enough information to know why Mark does what he does. So Michel has to be there at the moments when you feel Mark’s relationship towards him is changing.”

A final important casting decision was the location. After plans to shoot in Canada fell through, the film was homeless for a while. Looking around Europe, Ireland had immediate attractions – easy to reach and with rural settings that felt far away and mysterious.

When Enthoven and producer Mariano Vanhoof saw Bantry House in Cork, with its long flight of steps leading down to the mansion, they knew they had their key location. But then, Ireland was already in their blood.

“When we were students, we wanted to visit Ireland because of the music, because of the myths and the atmosphere,” he recalls, “so for us the whole picture was complete.”

Photo: Koen De Bouw (left) and Titus De Voogt in Broer