Man Bites Dog (1992)

Black, Black, Black
Reviewed by Simon on 2003-04-26

MAN BITES DOG is, quite simply, one of the blackest comedies ever made. The fake documentary following a charismatic serial killer about his daily business contains some of the most biting satire and perverse irreverence ever put on film. It's also perfectly scripted, directed and acted on a non-existant budget (most of the cast are members of the crew, who made the film whilst at school). Years before Natural Born Killers, these Belgian students made a far smarter and wittier satire of media violence, that challenges our society to look at its morbid fascination with the macabre dead in the eyes. Perhaps you will not like what you see of yourself from this perspective!

This remains the only Belgian film I've seen, and one of the few Belgian cultural artefacts of any nature. A country that can produce a masterpiece such as this surely can't be as bad as everybody says :))