Reel Rewind: “Pulsar”

My impetus for seeing “Pulsar” was that it is a Belgian film in the Dutch language. Since the majority of the films produced in Belgium are in French, it is a rare opportunity to experience one in that country’s other major language. And of course the film’s storyline did intrigue me as well.

Samuel (Matthias Schoenaerts) and Mireille (Tine Van den Wyngaert) are separated lovers – Sam remains in Brussels delivering pharmaceuticals for the Pharmacie Madou, while Mireille is in New York City interning at an architecture firm. It is because of Sam’s fear of being surrounded by tall buildings (there’s a lack of skyscrapers in central Brussels) that he did not go with Mireille. But Sam has no fear of technology and its instruments (webcam, e-mail, cell phone) which will keep the lovers emotionally connected even if they can’t be physically connected – or will it?

At first everything is working fine and Sam and Mireille are in frequent communication. Then slowly the technology breaks down – Sam is unable to logoff his computer’s WiFi network because someone else is on it, then someone locks him out of his network, and his e-mail account is taken over by someone. Who is this unknown someone deliberately interfering with Sam’s life and its consequential disruption with Mireille.? Must be someone close by; after all how far is Sam’s network’s range? Sam brings in IT specialists and covers his walls with a paint that blocks radio waves, all to no avail.

During this ordeal, Sam begins his own personal breakdown. Everyone is a suspect – his friends, his neighbors – who is it? Of course the “distance” between him and Mireille increases – less communication, perhaps Mireille is finding someone else of interest. Is this the outcome of a long-distance relationship helped along by an outside force or would it have happened on its own? Sam even has a physical altercation with a neighbor in his building who he thinks is responsible for the disconnection. But is it really the neighbor? Is it really any outside person? Or is it Sam’s emotional state gone haywire and his subsequent mental breakdown? When all else fails, there’s still the non-digital, non-computer ways of connecting/communicating. No radio wave blocking paint needed.

I like the cautionary tale of the effects of computer hacking/cyber problems on our lives/mental state (there have been times when I wanted to shake the laptop on which I’m writing this to within a byte of its CPU life), but the presentation of the story was a bit slow and did not always keep my attention. I suppose the slow pace was intentional to convey a gradual and not an immediate breakdown – both of the computer and of Sam. There was a Q&A session with the director, Alex Stockman, but I had to leave right after the end of “Pulsar” to wait in line for another film. Such is the film festival life.



Film Facts: Director/Writer/Producer: Alex Stockman, Cinematographer: Sébastien Koeppel, Editor: Nico Leunen, Musician: Kobe Proesmans, Producer: Kaat Camerlynck, Production Company: Corridor

Film Type: Drama, Cast: Sien Eggers (Mevrouw Luyckx), Vincent Lecuyer (Kirku), Matthias Schoenaerts (Samuel), Nico Sturm (Mark), Tine Van den Wyngaert (Mireille), Gordon Wilson (John Everts), Stefan Perceval (Upstairs Neighbor), Length: 91’, Language: Dutch, Country: Belgium, Year: 2010
No United States release date set as of this post


Images:
Left: Matthias Schoenaerts as Samuel from the website filmguide.afifest.com
Center: Graphic interpretation of “Pulsar” created by Adrean Darce Brent
Right: “Pulsar” poster from the website imdb.com