24/12/2009

Even though the final box office figures for 2009 have not yet been announced, and the end-of-year holidays should give them a substantial boost, one thing is already certain: Belgium has fallen for the phenomenal Barons [+see also:
film review
trailer
Interview with director and actress of…
interview: Nabil Ben Yadir
film profile].

Expectations were of course high. The cleverly orchestrated media campaign, especially on social networking sites such as Facebook, ensured that the web was abuzz with news of the eagerly-awaited film: a brazen comedy about Brussels in the 2000s in all its cultural and linguistic diversity, where underrated and overlooked areas are glorified by the light of a film lover, where magnificent losers are supported by everyday heroes who look to the future.

Belgian audiences have fallen in love with The Barons. Despite its modest release on an 11-print run at the start of November, the film attracted over 20,000 viewers in its first weekend. Relatively speaking (given the number of prints and its potential audience), its success is comparable to that of highly anticipated Flemish film The K File [+see also:
trailer
film profile], which has just been released. These results are all the more heartening as the performance of Belgian Francophone films has, for some time, been more a cause for lament than enthusiasm.

Nabil Ben Yadir’s The Barons has so far reached 80,000 admissions. What’s more surprising is that over a month and a half after its release, the film is showing on 13 screens, i.e. two more than on its launch. In other words, the 100,000 admissions mark is in sight, as well as the best score for a Belgian Francophone film in Belgium since The Child [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Luc & Jean-Pierre Dardenne
film profile] in 2005.

But perhaps this is just the beginning. Indeed, recent screenings at international festivals have shown that the popularity of The Barons is not just a local phenomenon, for the film won the Audience Award at Amiens, and the Jury Prize at Marrakech. The team is in the starting blocks for the French release on January 20.

(Translated from French)