The Ordeal
Encyclopedia
Calvaire is a 2004 Belgian psychological horror
film directed by Fabrice Du Welz
, starring Laurent Lucas
, Philippe Nahon
and Jackie Berroyer.
Marc quickly discovers that the sole occupant of the inn is its former proprietor, Mr. Bartel, an amiable old man who now lives there as a hermit
of sorts. Claiming to be a retired standup comedian, Mr. Bartel welcomes Marc to stay as long as he likes, even offering to tow and repair Marc's van as a sign of brotherhood between professional entertainers. Marc accepts the offer, but retains his arrogant demeanor, refusing to speak with Mr. Bartel about his own career or personal life.
The next morning, Mr. Bartel tows Marc's van into the front yard of the inn. Marc informs Mr. Bartel that he is going for a walk, at which point Mr. Bartel suddenly becomes paranoid and aggressive, warning Marc not to travel into the nearby village. Marc agrees, but nevertheless pays a visit to a nearby farm, where he witnesses a family voyeuristically
watching a teenage boy have intercourse with a calf, calling the experience "so tender". Meanwhile, rather than repairing Marc's van, Mr. Bartel begins snooping through the portion of it in which Marc lives, stealing an envelope of amateur pornography presented to Marc by one of his fans.
That night, Mr. Bartel becomes even more aggressive, working himself into a frenzy while recalling his adulterous wife who abandoned him years before. Mr. Bartel forces Marc to sing him song before going to bed. The next day, Marc discovers the envelope of homemade porn in the inn and realizes Mr. Bartel has been going through his things; when he attempts to call for help, Marc realizes that the telephone Mr. Bartel has been regularly using isn't even wired into the wall. Rushing to confront Mr. Bartel, Marc discovers Mr. Bartel vandalizing the van before blowing it up with gasoline and knocking Marc unconscious with the van's battery.
Marc awakens to find himself tied to a chair, clad only in an old sundress
. Mr. Bartel, now babbling, addresses Marc as if he were his wife, asking "her" why "she" came back after leaving him. Mr. Bartel sets about shaving one half of Marc's scalp, to 'protect him from the villagers' before forcing him into bed and cuddling next to him.
The next day, Mr. Bartel ties Marc to a tractor and takes him out into the woods to chop down a Christmas
tree. Marc escapes, but ends up getting caught in a rabbit snare. He lay there prone for several hours until Boris wanders by; Marc begs him for help, but Boris ignores his pleas, addressing Marc as if he were his lost dog. Boris sits down beside Marc and pets and strokes him for several minutes before alerting Mr. Bartel to Marc's whereabouts. Mr. Bartel comes and retrieves Marc, driving him back to the inn in the back of a hay truck. Curiously, a pair of villagers witness the entire course of events but do nothing to help Marc or alert the authorities.
Back at the inn, Mr. Bartel chastises "his wife" for running away, then crucifies
Marc to a cross behind the inn before going into town to confront the villagers at the town pub. Convinced that his wife was a "slut
" who was sleeping with every man in town, Mr. Bartel warns the villagers that now "she" has "returned," none of them can "have her." The villagers all appear to act paranoid and frightened at Mr. Bartel's ramblings, but once Bartel leaves, one of the patrons sits down at an antique piano and begins to play what sounds like polka
music; all of the villagers get up and begin dancing with one another.
Back at the inn, Mr. Bartel brings Marc into the kitchen and they sit down for Christmas dinner. Boris arrives with a calf, convinced that it is his missing dog. Mr. Bartel gives a tearful, impassioned speech about love, togetherness, and the spirit of the holidays, before a sudden rifle shot rings out and a bullet explodes through the inn's window, mortally wounding Boris. The villagers lay siege to the inn, intent on reclaiming the calf. It quickly becomes apparent that the villagers really were all having sex with Mr. Bartel's wife, and they, too, believe that Marc is Mr. Bartel's wife come back to them. The villagers mortally wound Mr. Bartel before all attacking Marc, taking turns at sodomizing
him over the dining room table.
Marc finally manages to escape from the mob and into the wilderness. He spends the night running from them through the woods, coming across a cemetery in the bog, with an imposing crucified Christ gravestone, aligning with the Calvaire
of the title. Marc manages to elude all but one of the villagers, who is just about to kill Marc when the villager slips into a pool of quicksand
. A crying and broken Marc approaches the drowning villager, neglecting to snatch the villager's gun and kill him. Instead, the tearful Marc comforts the man as he quickly sinks below the surface, assuming the identity of Mr. Bartel's wife and telling the man that "she" does, in fact, love him. Within seconds, the villager is dead, and Marc is left alone in the wilderness.
and had his US release on August 25, 2006. Its official English title was The Ordeal, but most reviewers have still referred to it as Calvaire.
. Even the American DVD has Calvaire as the prominent title, with The Ordeal as a subtitle.
Psychological horror
Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror fiction that relies on character fears, guilt, beliefs, eerie sound effects, relevant music and emotional instability to build tension and further the plot...
film directed by Fabrice Du Welz
Fabrice Du Welz
Fabrice Du Welz is a Belgian film director and screenwriter.- Biography :Du Welz studied at the Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Liège and at INSAS, a film school in Brussels. In the 90's he directed many films in Super 8 and wrote humorous sequences for Canal +...
, starring Laurent Lucas
Laurent Lucas
-Biography:A student of Charles Dullin, Lucas soon became one of the most admired young performers in the Strasbourg National Theatre. He first emerged on the scene with his role in I Hate Love, where he starred as an HIV positive man....
, Philippe Nahon
Philippe Nahon
-Biography:Nahon is best known for his roles in French horror and thriller films, including I Stand Alone, Humains, Calvaire, Irréversible, The Pack and Haute Tension, and he has been featured as a nameless butcher in three films by Gaspar Noé – Carne, I Stand Alone, and Irréversible .-Filmography...
and Jackie Berroyer.
Plot synopsis
Marc Stevens is a suave but arrogant up-and-coming pop singer, who makes his living performing light pop ballads and easy listening tunes at retirement homes and other small venues around Belgium. En route to perform on a Christmas special, he wrecks his van — which doubles as his home — during a thunderstorm and is stranded deep in the woods. Lost, cold, and succumbing to the elements, Marc is rescued by a local, an emaciated young man named Boris, who takes Marc to a nearby abandoned inn and then deserts him there.Marc quickly discovers that the sole occupant of the inn is its former proprietor, Mr. Bartel, an amiable old man who now lives there as a hermit
Hermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
of sorts. Claiming to be a retired standup comedian, Mr. Bartel welcomes Marc to stay as long as he likes, even offering to tow and repair Marc's van as a sign of brotherhood between professional entertainers. Marc accepts the offer, but retains his arrogant demeanor, refusing to speak with Mr. Bartel about his own career or personal life.
The next morning, Mr. Bartel tows Marc's van into the front yard of the inn. Marc informs Mr. Bartel that he is going for a walk, at which point Mr. Bartel suddenly becomes paranoid and aggressive, warning Marc not to travel into the nearby village. Marc agrees, but nevertheless pays a visit to a nearby farm, where he witnesses a family voyeuristically
Voyeurism
In clinical psychology, voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature....
watching a teenage boy have intercourse with a calf, calling the experience "so tender". Meanwhile, rather than repairing Marc's van, Mr. Bartel begins snooping through the portion of it in which Marc lives, stealing an envelope of amateur pornography presented to Marc by one of his fans.
That night, Mr. Bartel becomes even more aggressive, working himself into a frenzy while recalling his adulterous wife who abandoned him years before. Mr. Bartel forces Marc to sing him song before going to bed. The next day, Marc discovers the envelope of homemade porn in the inn and realizes Mr. Bartel has been going through his things; when he attempts to call for help, Marc realizes that the telephone Mr. Bartel has been regularly using isn't even wired into the wall. Rushing to confront Mr. Bartel, Marc discovers Mr. Bartel vandalizing the van before blowing it up with gasoline and knocking Marc unconscious with the van's battery.
Marc awakens to find himself tied to a chair, clad only in an old sundress
Sundress
A sundress is a dress intended to be worn by women in warm weather. Typically, it is an informal or casual dress in a lightweight fabric, most commonly cotton, and usually loose fitting. The dress is intended to be worn without a layering top, and the design must therefore cut a balance between...
. Mr. Bartel, now babbling, addresses Marc as if he were his wife, asking "her" why "she" came back after leaving him. Mr. Bartel sets about shaving one half of Marc's scalp, to 'protect him from the villagers' before forcing him into bed and cuddling next to him.
The next day, Mr. Bartel ties Marc to a tractor and takes him out into the woods to chop down a Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
tree. Marc escapes, but ends up getting caught in a rabbit snare. He lay there prone for several hours until Boris wanders by; Marc begs him for help, but Boris ignores his pleas, addressing Marc as if he were his lost dog. Boris sits down beside Marc and pets and strokes him for several minutes before alerting Mr. Bartel to Marc's whereabouts. Mr. Bartel comes and retrieves Marc, driving him back to the inn in the back of a hay truck. Curiously, a pair of villagers witness the entire course of events but do nothing to help Marc or alert the authorities.
Back at the inn, Mr. Bartel chastises "his wife" for running away, then crucifies
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
Marc to a cross behind the inn before going into town to confront the villagers at the town pub. Convinced that his wife was a "slut
Slut
Slut or slattern is a pejorative term applied to an individual who is considered to have loose sexual morals or who is sexually promiscuous...
" who was sleeping with every man in town, Mr. Bartel warns the villagers that now "she" has "returned," none of them can "have her." The villagers all appear to act paranoid and frightened at Mr. Bartel's ramblings, but once Bartel leaves, one of the patrons sits down at an antique piano and begins to play what sounds like polka
Polka
The polka is a Central European dance and also a genre of dance music familiar throughout Europe and the Americas. It originated in the middle of the 19th century in Bohemia...
music; all of the villagers get up and begin dancing with one another.
Back at the inn, Mr. Bartel brings Marc into the kitchen and they sit down for Christmas dinner. Boris arrives with a calf, convinced that it is his missing dog. Mr. Bartel gives a tearful, impassioned speech about love, togetherness, and the spirit of the holidays, before a sudden rifle shot rings out and a bullet explodes through the inn's window, mortally wounding Boris. The villagers lay siege to the inn, intent on reclaiming the calf. It quickly becomes apparent that the villagers really were all having sex with Mr. Bartel's wife, and they, too, believe that Marc is Mr. Bartel's wife come back to them. The villagers mortally wound Mr. Bartel before all attacking Marc, taking turns at sodomizing
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
him over the dining room table.
Marc finally manages to escape from the mob and into the wilderness. He spends the night running from them through the woods, coming across a cemetery in the bog, with an imposing crucified Christ gravestone, aligning with the Calvaire
Calvary (sculpture)
A calvary is a type of monumental public crucifix, sometimes encased in an open shrine, most commonly found across northern France from Brittany east and through Belgium and equally familiar as wayside structures provided with minimal sheltering roofs in Italy and Spain...
of the title. Marc manages to elude all but one of the villagers, who is just about to kill Marc when the villager slips into a pool of quicksand
Quicksand
Quicksand is a colloid hydrogel consisting of fine granular matter , clay, and water.Water circulation underground can focus in an area with the optimal mixture of fine sands and other materials such as clay. The water moves up and then down slowly in a convection-like manner throughout a column...
. A crying and broken Marc approaches the drowning villager, neglecting to snatch the villager's gun and kill him. Instead, the tearful Marc comforts the man as he quickly sinks below the surface, assuming the identity of Mr. Bartel's wife and telling the man that "she" does, in fact, love him. Within seconds, the villager is dead, and Marc is left alone in the wilderness.
Cast
- Laurent LucasLaurent Lucas-Biography:A student of Charles Dullin, Lucas soon became one of the most admired young performers in the Strasbourg National Theatre. He first emerged on the scene with his role in I Hate Love, where he starred as an HIV positive man....
as Marc Stevens - Brigitte LahaieBrigitte LahaieBrigitte Lahaie is a radio talk show host, actress and former pornographic actress from France. She began her career at age 15 with a minor role in Africa Erotica and performed in pornographic films from 1976 through 1980....
as Mademoiselle Vicky - Gigi Coursigny as Madame Langhoff
- Jean-Luc Couchard as Boris
- Jackie Berroyer as Bartel
- Philippe NahonPhilippe Nahon-Biography:Nahon is best known for his roles in French horror and thriller films, including I Stand Alone, Humains, Calvaire, Irréversible, The Pack and Haute Tension, and he has been featured as a nameless butcher in three films by Gaspar Noé – Carne, I Stand Alone, and Irréversible .-Filmography...
as Robert Orton - Philippe Grand'Henry as Tomas Orton
- Jo Prestia as Fermier Mylène
- Marc Lefebvre as Lucien
- Alfred David-Pingouin as Roland
- Alain Delaunois as Gáant
- Vincent Cahay as Stan Le Pianiste
- Johan Meys as Rosto
- Romain Protat as Figurant Dans Le Bar
- Damien Waselle as Figurant Dans Le Bar
- Viktor Mikol as Figurant Dans Le Bar
- Nedzad Kurtagic as Figurant Dans Le Bar
- Yves Vaucher as Figurant Dans Le Bar
- Borhan Du Welz as Enfant Dans Le Bois
- Maxime Dewitte as Enfant Dans Le Bois
- Alexis Dewitte as Enfant Dans Le Bois
- Liam Gilson as Enfant Dans Le Bois
- Raphaël Schmidt as Enfant Dans Le Bois
- Eliot Cahay as Enfant Dans Le Bois
- Farkhad Alekperov as Enfant Dans Le Bois
Release
It premiered on 18 May 2004 as part of the Cannes Film FestivalCannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
and had his US release on August 25, 2006. Its official English title was The Ordeal, but most reviewers have still referred to it as Calvaire.
DVD release
The short film included on the Tartan Film DVD is called A wonderful love also directed by Fabrice Du WelzFabrice Du Welz
Fabrice Du Welz is a Belgian film director and screenwriter.- Biography :Du Welz studied at the Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in Liège and at INSAS, a film school in Brussels. In the 90's he directed many films in Super 8 and wrote humorous sequences for Canal +...
. Even the American DVD has Calvaire as the prominent title, with The Ordeal as a subtitle.