The Misfortunates

The Misfortunates
Directed by	Felix Van Groeningen
Produced by	Dirk Impens Jeroen Beker Frans van Gestel
Screenplay by	Felix Van Groeningen Christophe Dirickx
Story by	Dimitri Verhulst
Starring	Koen De Graeve Johan Heldenbergh Wouter Hendrickx Bert Haelvoet Valentijn Dhaenens Kenneth Vanbaeden Gilda De Bal
Music by	Jef Neve
Cinematography	Ruben Impens
Editing by	Nico Leunen
Distributed by	Menuet IDTV
Release date(s)	16 May 2009 (2009-05-16)
Running time	108 minutes
Country	Belgium
Language	Dutch

The Misfortunates (Dutch: De helaasheid der dingen) is a 2009 Belgian comedy-drama film from director Felix Van Groeningen, adapted from the book De helaasheid der dingen by Belgian writer Dimitri Verhulst. The film stars Koen De Graeve, Johan Heldenbergh, Wouter Hendrickx, Bert Haelvoet, Valentijn Dhaenens, Kenneth Vanbaeden and Gilda De Bal.

Critical reception

LA Weekly found Van Groeningen mixing "the visual exuberance of Trainspotting with the familial pathos of Angela’s Ashes",^[1] whilst Variety described the film as starting out as an "extremely lowbrow comedy" but later "morphing into a bittersweet meditation on whether familial love and pride are enough to sustain a proper upbringing."^[2]

Awards

The film won the Prix Art et Essai at the Cannes Film Festival's Quinzaine des Réalisateurs.^[3] It also won three Golden Starfish Awards at the 17th Hamptons International Film Festival.^[4] The film is the official Belgian entry for the 82nd Academy Awards in 2010 in the category Best Foreign Language Film.

References

1. ^ Chuck Wilson (December 9, 2009). "The Misfortunates". LA Weekly. http://www.laweekly.com/2009-12-10/film-tv/movie-reviews-broken-embraces-paa-a-single-man-armored/2. Retrieved 20 January 2010. 
2. ^ Boyd Van Hoeij (17 May 2009). "The Misfortunates". Variety. http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=review&reviewid=VE1117940279&cs=1. Retrieved 20 January 2010. 
3. ^ ""Misfortunates" win in Cannes". Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroep. May 23, 2009. http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/flanders%2Btoday/1.533389. Retrieved 20 January 2010. 
4. ^ Eugene Hernandez and Brian Brooks (12 October 2009). "“Misfortunates” Wins 3 at Hamptons Fest". indieWIRE. http://www.indiewire.com/article/misfortunates_wins_3_at_hamptons_fest/. Retrieved 20 January 2010. 

External links

• Official website
• The Misfortunates at the Internet Movie Database
• The Misfortunates at AllRovi
• The Misfortunates at Rotten Tomatoes