The Broken Circle Breakdown

The Broken Circle Breakdown

Director: Felix van Groeningen
Country: Belgium

2012 | 110 min. | Dutch
Subtitles: German, English
FSK 12

Cast_ Veerle Baetens, Johan Heldenbergh, Nell Cattrysse, Geert Van Rampelberg, Nils De Caster Screenplay_ Carl Joos, Felix van Groeningen Camera_ Ruben Impens Producer_ Dirk Impens Rights_ Die Filmagentinnen

When happiness shatters and only memories remain – ›The Broken Circle Breakdown‹ is an overflowing, award-winning melodramatic love story.

No sooner has tattoo artist Elie fallen in love with bluegrass musician Didier that she finds herself pregnant. The couple’s happiness seems perfect. The birth of their daughter Maybelle brings the young parents even closer together. Then, at the age of six, Maybelle contracts leukemia and the family falls apart.

Spanning just under eight years and told non-chronologically, ›The Broken Circle Breakdown‹ is a love and music film that reveals longing for an unlived life as the narrative core of melodrama. It was nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

Director

Felix van Groeningen (1977) is a Belgian director and screenwriter. After studying film in Ghent, he made several short films and worked as a writer and actor for the theater. In addition to ›The Broken Circle Breakdown‹, his films include ›Café Belgica‹ (2016), ›Beautiful Boy‹ (2018), and ›Eight Mountains‹ (2022).

Screenings