A quasi-punk rock band, consisting of entirely disabled members living in extreme poverty, enlist a famous writer, Dries, as their new drummer to perform at a music competition in Ostend, Belgium. Dries accepts the offer not out of genuine interest in playing music, the band's music, or even the scene in general but in the morbid interest of entering a world he finds base and repellent and proceeds to take advantage of the band and their hangers-on so as to fuel his own inspiration for writing. Directed by Koen Mortier and based on a book by popular and controversial Belgian writer, Herman Brusselmans (whom unfortunately I know very little about, otherwise I might've given some background).

Umm... WTF did I just watch?

If I could describe this film in one word, I wouldn't; I'd use a number: 11. Everything in this film is turned up to 11.

First of all, it's easily one of the most, if not the most offensive films I've ever seen in my life. Violence, rape, abuse (of people, drugs, and alcohol), misogyny, homophobia, racism, disparagement of the physically disabled and the mentally ill, miscellaneous vulgarity and scatology, and just a general sense of seething misanthropy and nihilism permeating the entirety of the film's duration, from what may be one of the greatest opening credits sequences of all time to the violent, bitter, and highly exacting climax. The violence is graphic, some of the sex is unsimulated, homophobic and ableist slurs get thrown out more than rice at a wedding with vulgar terms for female genitalia sharing the same frequency (including hands down the single best/worst one I've ever heard in my life).

High score, anyone? Ex Drummer's up there.

Additionally, the film's visual style is all over the map from frenetic Danny Boyle/Guy Ritchie-esque stylization to Gaspar Noe-style realism and free form. Director Mortier comes from the commercial world so there's a lot of flash to be flaunted, especially earlier on in the film. Slow motion, reverse time-lapse, quick-cut editing, and swirling dissolves are all on display here. He also gets surreal. One character appears in his apartment at all times walking on the ceiling and towards the end of the film, there're some vignettes of deceased, blood-soaked characters breaking the fourth wall with introspective soliloquies. The lighting and color is also often highly stylized. At other times, Mortier grits it up and opts for a more handheld/fly-on-the-wall style with the surroundings left to look as crappy as they are when they initially show up on the camera.

I'll cease making comparisons to other films and directors from here on, lest I get boring and repetitive (or am I already?) but there is one film in particular that almost always draws a comparison that I'll acknowledge so as to excise the elephant in the room:

Trainspotting, Trainspotting, Trainspotting. There! It's out. Let the record show that Trainspotting is a prestige picture compared to Ex Drummer (and I guess with Danny Boyle being the director, it already is anyway).

Moving along... After watching Ex Drummer, I watched a Making Of documentary and apparently the production wasn't exactly a cake-walk either. Financiers refused to fund anything with Brusselmans' name on it, ex-producers evaded or flat out denied involvement with the film when asked to comment on it, and the cast and crew all seemed on the verge of mutiny. Mortier is painted as a drunk, control freak, and possibly even certifiably insane with not one but two crew members saying he was going to get clocked in the face.

Wow. That's a lot, isn't it? If you've made it this far, you're a pal. None of this is any recommendation to see the film; rather the one thing that's always fun about seeing a film this extreme is telling everyone it makes [insert film here] look like [insert film here], it's the most [insert adjective here] film ever made and OMG, WTF, etc. In this case, I think Ex Drummer is exceptional so I'm not entirely mouthing off about the latest car wreck I've seen but you get the idea...

So... is the film good or bad?

I'm mixed to be honest. A lot of the appeal is in the images. While many of them aren't pleasant, it's hard to stop watching once you've been sucked in (again, a car wreck is an appropriate comparison). As I mentioned earlier, the film is also very stylish and that style is genuine; it's not the content alone that makes the images stand out.

Unfortunately, the narrative isn't as easy to go on. These types of films tend to be hard in that regard. I think Ex Drummer is slightly easier than others because you see everything through the eyes of one character and the fact that there's a music competition at the end of it all gives the narrative a destination. This isn't exactly a vignettes-type situation. Nevertheless, once the initial shock wears off (don't worry, it comes back), there are moments where the film feels tedious, redundant, and aimless.

Some of this is undoubtably due to the writing and perhaps the translation from the page to the screen but honestly, I regret to say I think some elements were just lost on me. A lot of people have referred to this as a dark comedy and with the exception of a few elements (a character named Big Dick), I just don't see it. The film's in Flemish so many there's a language barrier in there somewhere but a lot of scenes are so outlandish, those kinda subtleties probably go out the window. I guess maybe there's some humor to be derived from exactly how outlandish everything is but I don't know. If that were the case, a lot of the jokes would get old. Other scenes were just too grim for me to appreciate the satire.

I also think not being Belgian might've put me at a disadvantage. There's a lot of references to the death of a king peppered throughout the film. I've read some comparisons to 9/11 or the death of JFK in attempts to illustrate the significance of this event but at the end of the day, I just can't understand the magnitude (or lack thereof). Empathy takes one a long way but sometimes I think you actually have to be in a specific environment to be able to take in the full texture of a person or an event, not to mention knowing the history of a country or at least a specific region. I've started to notice this in a few other foreign films I've seen to date.

At the same time, I think there is some form of social commentary going on in the film. For the most part, the situations are depicted as, if not being realistic, having some basis in realism and the result is pretty visceral. There's also something to be said about the fact that the most depraved character in the film is probably Dries, the writer. He doesn't come from this world but he watches it, exploits it, and even encourages but it's rare that he ever steps in to try and make a change. It feels all the more callous when he returns to his sterile penthouse apartment. Honestly, the characters he mocks seem to have more humanity than he does, even though some of their actions are worse than his own.

Still, what ever potentially humanistic or sociopolitical bubblings are going on here, I think it's buried under a lot of excess. I can't entirely call the film a success in that regard. Still, it left an impact on me and made me think. I expect I'll have to see it again at some point. I also have a great appreciation for films that push, nay break boundaries. Herman Brusselmans said in the documentary that most films want to stay innocent, which I sorta agree with.

So, at the end of the day, I can't really recommend the film out of anything more than sheer morbid curiosity but I am glad it was made and suspect it was a bold attempt at something that maybe was more than people could feasibly take in.

For serious cinephiles and students of film only (yeah, it's pretentious, fuck off! :)).

...I expect I'll have to try writing shorter reviews from now on.

Watched the video, read the whole thing.  You sure do know how to make me want to watch movies (or perhaps the exploitative nature of the movie sells itself... I dunno).  Definitely going to take a look at this one.