hop 2002 region free dvd5 french dutch bcbc

Hop is a 2002 movie from Belgium directed by Dominique Standaert and starring Kalomba Mboyi, Jan Decleir and Antje de Boeck. Belgian Oscars: Hop Best Actress (Winner), Best Composer (Winner) and Best Film (Nominated).

(Contains movie and Optional English Subtitles. No menus or extras. Regular DVD quality (Not BD, 1080p etc...). Seeding always appreciated).







Synopsis

All Justin and his father want to do is sit down and enjoy a soccer game together. This simple act between father and son sparks a chain of events leading to Justin's father's deportation. On the run Justin must embark on a thrilling adventure to re-unite with his father. But in order to fight the system, he must enlist the help of a former anarchist. Together they will need to apply the secret of the Hop.



Cast

Kalomba Mboyi, Jan Decleir, Antje de Boeck, Ansou Diedhiou, Alexandra Vandernoot, Serge-Henri Valcke, Emile Mpenza



Hop (2002), directed by Dominique Standaert, reviewed September 25th, 2009

Hop is really two films that are patched together in the same movie. The first third of the movie depicts two undocumented immigrants from Burundi who live in Brussels. Dieudonné, (Ansou Diedhiou) and his son Justin, (Kalomba Mboyi) have a quiet--if marginalized--life in a working-class neighborhood. It's clear that father and son love and respect each other, and that they're both intelligent and resourceful human beings.



Through a series of unfortunate circumstances, Dieudonné is arrested, and Justin ends up living with an alcoholic anarchist--Frans (played by Jan Declair) and his housekeeper, Gerda (Antje de Boeck). The interactions among the three are complex and interesting.



At this point the plot moves in a different direction, and becomes essentially a caper film-- can this unlikely trio actually free the boy's father from imprisonment and deportation.



The acting is uniformly excellent. Both Decleir and de Boeck are veteran Belgian actors, and they are highly competent professionals. (de Boeck may be a little too attractive for her part, but she conveys intelligence and compassion extremely well.)



Mboyi and Diedhiou are both newcomers, and they are extraordinarily talented. They look and act like father and son, and it was hard to remember that they were really just two actors doing a fine professional job.



For the caper part of the film, Standaert brings in the glamorous Alexandra Vandernoot as the tough, competent Police Commissioner Taminiaux. Her role didn't really call for much screen time, but when you've managed to sign a beautiful, nationally-famous actor to co-star in an independent movie, you'd better be prepared to work her into every possible scene.



The famous Belgian football hero Emile Mpenza is mentioned throughout the film, and he has a cameo part at the end. The movie has several clever touches like that. It's definitely worth seeing.



Hop movie review

Dominique Standaert's Hop holds a special place in Belgian cinema: it was the first feature to be shot totally digitally and it looks great in a luminous black and white. While the black and white cinematography of Raymond Fromont looks great it may be a sort of analogy for the racial tensions that exist in some moden day European countries. A young African boy, Justin (Kalomba Mboyi) and his father(Ansou Diedhiou)---both refugees from Burundi---are living illegally in Belgium. Through a series of events started by an incident with their neighbors, the boy ends up in trouble with the law, eventually ending up separated from his father. Naturally, the main objective is the attempted reunion between the two. The film probes some interesting areas involving race and immigration and the first half of the film is quite engaging. It is in the second half that the film loses a little of its steam. In order to reunite with his father Justin engages the help of a former communist activist (Jan Decleir) and his housekeeper (Antje de Boeck) and through minor anarchist plottings try to convince the government to return the deported father. While the story is not a bad one things get a little to silly for the film's own good.The film's title comes from the Pygmy tradition of "the hop" which is a sort of trickery used to gain an advantage over an adversary. While this film is wonderful for its cinematography the story line could have been a little tighter. But all is made up for in the excellent performances by the cast.