Review No.167: North Sea, Texas

Second film in a row now to feature a seaside community but this one doesn't have any of that silly sci-fi nonsense in it but instead focuses on a very complicated boy trying to determine his sexuality in a small Belgian town. North Sea, Texas concentrates on Pim who, as a young boy, likes to try on his mother's clothes and make-up before having his first sexual experiments. Pim's mother sees him as a hindrance to her having a good time as she invites various gentleman suitors to her place and often spends a lot of time at the bar known as 'Texas' where Pim often has to wait for her doing this by sitting in a corner and drawing quietly. Pim has also developed almost a surrogate family with the more maternal Marcella whose two children love having him around mainly so they can both indulge their passions on him with daughter Sabrina running around after him and older brother Gino leading him with the two eventually having sex. It is clear that Pim is much more in love with Gino who takes him on bike rides and they continue their affair but only in places where they won't be discovered as Gino is obviously ashamed by his feelings for Pim. Eventually Gino leaves town, to hook up with a French girl, while Sabrina also discovers the truth behind her brother's relationship with the boy she is also fond of. Essentially North Sea, Texas is a film about families, growing up and where we all fit in in the grand scheme of things and as the film draws to a close there is a tragic death which brings the majority of the characters closer together.

What I really liked about North Sea, Texas are the performances with the young cast in particular portraying confused teenagers really unsure of their feelings. In the lead role Jelle Florizoone is excellent as a teenager deciding which path he wants to take in his life and despairing over his awful home life as his mother constantly ignores his needs. Mathias Vergels is also good as the torn Gino somebody whose carnal desires point him towards Pim but he realises that he can only be accepted if he dates someone of the opposite sex and leaves the boy he actually loves for somebody else. I think if this theme had been picked up to a stronger extent then this would've made a better impression on me but as it is I found Bavo Defurne's film fairly meandering for the most part as when Gino left, Pim spends most of his time gazing out along the coast as Matt Smith did in the last film I reviewed. The only character to really stick with me was Pim's mother Yvette a really big character who wants desperately to hang onto her youth which she knows is slipping away especially now that her son is turning fifteen. The cinematography is also beautiful capturing a small town that a lot of the characters want to escape from and in that essence it reminds me of the great Swedish film Show Me Love however other than this sparse setting and the homosexual relationship there isn't much comparison. So there are admiral points about North Sea, Texas, mainly the acting and the cinematography, overall it's rather a bland effort that seems to run out of steam before the end credits roll, which is a shame as some good themes are bought up throughout the film.

Verdict: Some great camera work and performances give some impact to this otherwise forgettable film which runs out of steam so for those reasons I'll award a generous 6/10