The name of director Robin Pront film for non French speakers can trick them into imagining a gang film of two brothers whose last names is Ardennes. Fortunately it is not.

Two brothers plan and execute the robbery. Kenny (Kevin Janssens) takes the fall for it, and spends years in jail, while , Dave (Jeroen Perceval) makes a run for it, begins a fresh start, and falls in love with his brother’s ex-girlfriend Sylvie (Veerle Baetens). The camera forwards four years later, sober and clean, Dave and Sylive are having a child, while vowing to live a 9-5 “dull” life, away from their past.

On the other hand is Kenny, who is grumpy yet, an interesting vision of the Godfather’s Sonny Corleone. Actor Kevin Janssens brilliantly gave a performance of violent ex-con coming from a brutal prison, after years of getting harassed by fellow Moroccan inmates, and forced to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr.

Fresh from prison, he gets out to light, eats pizza, drinks beer, sees his mom, plays video games, masturbates to porn, and looks for Sylive.

The fight for Sylive’s love and the clash between the two worlds of Kenny and Dave gives way for a biblical tragedy. The collision between a recreation of the past and the sustaining of the present rips apart the brotherly bond.

The plot almost reaches a peak every time Dave and Sylive’s love is going to be declared, but postponed to give room more subplots and more reaction from our lost, yet dreamy, protagonists.

Although most of the film takes place in a dusty working class area of Belgium, director Pront’s ambitious debut The Ardennes was accompanied by seriously hard hitting house and techno music, leading way and building anticipation to showdown of a failed homecoming party.

The neighborhood where the family lives in is surrounded by factories and muddy roads, while and residential blocs of Soviet style, with dinners and houses serving French fries. Another environment which we slightly see or hear about is nightclubs and modernized shopping blocks.

Jealousy and rage drives Kenny into a crime. And who is he going to call for help? His brother and a former freakish cellmate Stef (Jan Bijvoet), a chest naked owner of an abandoned garage in the frosty Ardennes hills.

The film moves then moves from a not yet fully exposed family drama to a sudden dog eat dog set in the dark forests. This quick change was not developed in the script, giving the film to shake of the dust and reveal some truth.

Alongside the troubling and cold soundtrack, the cinematography in The Ardennes is a straight shot translation to the state of anarchy, revealing how bad this party turned to be. The contradiction between Dave and Kenney, in how to approach women, argue, drink, and kiss their mother, is well stressed.

The close-ups on Sylive’s facing in her group therapy sessions, as she remembers and tries to smash the burdens of the past, are met by other compositions of Kenny remembering how he was bullied in prison and how he remained faithful.

(Photo: still from The Ardennes)

The Ardennes will be screened again on the following days:

- Wednesday 9 November at 6.30pm, at cinema Karim, Cairo
- Friday 11 November at 9.30pm, at cinema Zawya, Cairo
- Daturday 12 November at 6.45pm at Americana Plaza, Sheikh Zayed, Cairo

Check the complete programme of the Panorama, for Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and Ismailia here

This review was originally written for the daily news letter published by the Panorama of the European Film during the festival days.

Ahram Online is the media sponsor of The Panorama of the European Film and of Zawya.

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