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Review: Bullhead (Rundskop) (2011)
An interesting and solemn drama film that blends two story lines about crime and about the protagonist's history.
Spoilers.
Story
The beginning of the movie was about the "hormone mafia." Basically, the mafia's line of business was to inject illegal growth hormones into cattle that would then be sold as livestock or meat.
Jacky was one such man who was involved in this trade, as his family owned a cattle farm. Jacky was an angry and aggressive man. At the beginning of the movie, he intimidated another man into exclusively selling cattle to their farm.
Jacky's vet wanted to get him in on a special deal with the mafia. When they met up to talk about it, the mafia boss, Marc De Kuyper, was accompanied by Diederik and his presence really threw Jacky off.
In the mean time, a police detective who investigated growth hormones was found dead. The people who killed him had asked two Walloon mechanics to steal a car for them, returned the car with bullet holes, and instructed them to dispose of the car.
Diederik was revealed to be a police informant and he kind of had a flirtationship going on with one of the male police officers.
It was revealed that Jacky and Diederik were childhood best friends. Both of their fathers were cattle farmers who did business with the local mobster. The mobster had a son, Bruno, and a daughter, Lucia, whom Jacky took a liking to.
Jacky and Diederik went to look for Lucia, but were noticed by Bruno. Bruno caught up to Jacky and smashed his testicles with rocks, essentially castrating him. Diederik was seen running away in the background.
That back history made clear what drugs Jacky was taking. He was taking testosterone, but also steroids.
In the present, Jacky found Lucia and he posed as a customer at the shop she worked at. Later on, he followed her to a club again, where she was dancing with another guy, who was found severely beaten and in a coma later. Lucia had deduced that it was Jacky who had beaten the guy. Jacky had also visited Bruno, who was living in a care home and basically non-responsive; Jacky sort of slapped him around a bit. Lucia later came by to visit Bruno and I think she had guessed that Jacky had visited.
Meanwhile, the police found the car that the mechanics had clumsily disposed of. From there, the police were going to take down the rest of the ring as they could track the murder back to the mafia.
Diederik went to warn Jacky to leave because he knew he wasn't involved in the murder but he would get caught up in the police sweep. Diederik drove Jacky to Lucia's place but Lucia was afraid and called the police. Jacky went to the washroom and injected a ton of drugs. When the police came to arrest him, he tried to fight his way out but died.
I would call this story a mix of a crime story but also a story of how Jacky's childhood trauma had affected him for the rest of his life.
Production
In general this movie had a very gloomy feel. I think it helped in unifying the two story lines so that we would see it as one big story as opposed to two.
Characters
Jacky Vanmarsenille
Jacky was our main character. He was an angry and aggressive man. Part of that was psychological trauma, and I think part of it might have been a side effect of the drugs.
As a child, Jacky and Diederik were best friends, but I definitely think Jacky felt abandoned by Diederik. Not only did Diederik not help him when Bruno and the bullies had held him down, but Diederik was not allowed by his father to testify against Bruno as Diederik's father still wanted to do business with the mobster, Bruno's father. So understandably, Jacky was extremely disturbed when he bumped into Diederik again at the business meeting with Marc de Kuyper.
I think Jacky was always trying to prove his own masculinity. He injected a lot of testosterone and steroids, and he did so regularly. He was extremely aggressive and physical with other people.
I was a little unconvinced by his love for Lucia, as he had only seen her once, but I think his obsession with Lucia wasn't so simple as love. I think his fixation with winning her over was related to his need to prove himself to be a man. Lucia's connection with Jacky was further complicated by the fact that she was Bruno's sister. Jacky had visited Bruno but he was in a somewhat non-responsive state, so he couldn't really regain his masculinity by fighting or beating up Bruno as he was completely unable to fight back. So perhaps Jacky was thinking he could only earn his masculinity back from their family in another way.
The thing is, Jacky is not a pleasant man. He acts out in very violent ways. When he was disturbed by Diederik, he made a huge noise in the washroom, needing to release his anger physically. He showed his jealousy of the guy that Lucia was hanging out with by beating him up so badly that he was in a coma.
But I think it was important to show his backstory to show where it was coming from, that he was coming from a place of immense trauma, and he never had a healthy outlet for it.
Diederik Maes
Diederik was Jacky's childhood friend. I wouldn't have blamed him for running away while Jacky was being held down and attacked because that would have been a very scary experience. But in the distance, even after Jacky was left alone, Diederik ran away.
Afterwards, Diederik apologized to Jacky that his father didn't allow him to testify against Bruno. But that seemed to be their final break, as clearly their relationship until adulthood was totally estranged.
Jacky was very perturbed by having to work with Diederik. As for Diederik, I think he wanted to mend their relationship but he was also respectful of Jacky's boundaries.
Diederik was working as a police informant. He had his eye on a male police officer, but the officer told him that they could only get together after everything was done and over with. Towards the end, when Diederik tried to kiss the officer, he said that they should still wait when everything was over.
Then, Diederik went to inform Jacky to evacuate. Jacky told his family to leave.
Then Diederik helped Jacky get rid of their illegal drugs. In that time in the farmhouse, Jacky asked Diederik if he was gay, but Diederik denied it. I wonder if Diederik denied it because he was aware of Jacky's feelings about masculinity. After Jacky's trauma, he overheard his mom asking the doctor if he would become gay because of the lack of testosterone, so I think Diederik was aware that Jacky was very sensitive to the topic and didn't want to disturb him further.
Diederik then drove him away. During that car ride, they seemed to be on talking terms, which was nice. Diederik drove Jacky to Lucia's place and encouraged him to go for it, though clearly he didn't know what the real situation was like (more like a stalker situation).
Lucia Schepers
Lucia was not actually that major of a character, but she was more of a symbol in Jacky's life. She was barely present in their childhood, only a girl that Jacky had been curious about.
In adulthood, she learned of Jacky as the odd stoic customer who she'd seen again at the club. She figured he was interested and so that was why she visited his house but at that time she realized that Jacky was responsible for beating up the guy from the club. From then on, she behaved in the normal way that people do when they realize they have an obsessive aggressive stalker.
I'm not totally certain that she figured out that Jacky was the kid that Bruno had attacked as a kid, as she wasn't really receptive to Jacky when he tried to explain. I think she was mostly just afraid and glad to be rid of him.
Themes
Masculinity
For Jacky, masculinity was everything. It was what he'd lost and what he spent his whole life trying to gain back, without considering whether he had. In his mind, he was always missing something. But his version of masculinity was rather boneheaded, making him someone we would describe as aggressive rather than manly.
As I mentioned above, I think his feelings towards Lucia were more driven by his feelings about masculinity rather than his actual romantic feelings for her.
At the same time, I wonder if we were supposed to consider it ironic that Jacky was a cattle farmer. Farming in itself is a bit like childrearing, which some may perceive to be completely feminine. At one point, Jacky helped a pregnant cow give birth. And that scene was followed by a scene of Jacky watching a family leave. And I think we're supposed to interpret that as Jacky ruing the fact that he could never have a biological family of his own. He grieved for the opportunity he would never have. And I don't think wanting to have a biological family is a feminine or masculine trait, just a human one.
Homophobia
This was shown extremely briefly in the movie. I think the people in this community saw homosexuality as a feminine thing. As mentioned, Jacky's mom had asked if he would be gay without the testosterone, so Jacky probably grew up seeing homosexuality as something very negative.
While Diederik only showed his homosexuality with the police officer, I think he would have been very careful to hide it from other people in that community as well, particularly Jacky and/or his family.
Overall
I do think this was a rather tragic story. Jacky experienced terrible trauma as a child and he never learned to handle it in a healthy way that didn't involve hurting himself or other people.
Spoilers.
Story
The beginning of the movie was about the "hormone mafia." Basically, the mafia's line of business was to inject illegal growth hormones into cattle that would then be sold as livestock or meat.
Jacky was one such man who was involved in this trade, as his family owned a cattle farm. Jacky was an angry and aggressive man. At the beginning of the movie, he intimidated another man into exclusively selling cattle to their farm.
Jacky's vet wanted to get him in on a special deal with the mafia. When they met up to talk about it, the mafia boss, Marc De Kuyper, was accompanied by Diederik and his presence really threw Jacky off.
In the mean time, a police detective who investigated growth hormones was found dead. The people who killed him had asked two Walloon mechanics to steal a car for them, returned the car with bullet holes, and instructed them to dispose of the car.
Diederik was revealed to be a police informant and he kind of had a flirtationship going on with one of the male police officers.
It was revealed that Jacky and Diederik were childhood best friends. Both of their fathers were cattle farmers who did business with the local mobster. The mobster had a son, Bruno, and a daughter, Lucia, whom Jacky took a liking to.
Jacky and Diederik went to look for Lucia, but were noticed by Bruno. Bruno caught up to Jacky and smashed his testicles with rocks, essentially castrating him. Diederik was seen running away in the background.
That back history made clear what drugs Jacky was taking. He was taking testosterone, but also steroids.
In the present, Jacky found Lucia and he posed as a customer at the shop she worked at. Later on, he followed her to a club again, where she was dancing with another guy, who was found severely beaten and in a coma later. Lucia had deduced that it was Jacky who had beaten the guy. Jacky had also visited Bruno, who was living in a care home and basically non-responsive; Jacky sort of slapped him around a bit. Lucia later came by to visit Bruno and I think she had guessed that Jacky had visited.
Meanwhile, the police found the car that the mechanics had clumsily disposed of. From there, the police were going to take down the rest of the ring as they could track the murder back to the mafia.
Diederik went to warn Jacky to leave because he knew he wasn't involved in the murder but he would get caught up in the police sweep. Diederik drove Jacky to Lucia's place but Lucia was afraid and called the police. Jacky went to the washroom and injected a ton of drugs. When the police came to arrest him, he tried to fight his way out but died.
I would call this story a mix of a crime story but also a story of how Jacky's childhood trauma had affected him for the rest of his life.
Production
In general this movie had a very gloomy feel. I think it helped in unifying the two story lines so that we would see it as one big story as opposed to two.
Characters
Jacky Vanmarsenille
Jacky was our main character. He was an angry and aggressive man. Part of that was psychological trauma, and I think part of it might have been a side effect of the drugs.
As a child, Jacky and Diederik were best friends, but I definitely think Jacky felt abandoned by Diederik. Not only did Diederik not help him when Bruno and the bullies had held him down, but Diederik was not allowed by his father to testify against Bruno as Diederik's father still wanted to do business with the mobster, Bruno's father. So understandably, Jacky was extremely disturbed when he bumped into Diederik again at the business meeting with Marc de Kuyper.
I think Jacky was always trying to prove his own masculinity. He injected a lot of testosterone and steroids, and he did so regularly. He was extremely aggressive and physical with other people.
I was a little unconvinced by his love for Lucia, as he had only seen her once, but I think his obsession with Lucia wasn't so simple as love. I think his fixation with winning her over was related to his need to prove himself to be a man. Lucia's connection with Jacky was further complicated by the fact that she was Bruno's sister. Jacky had visited Bruno but he was in a somewhat non-responsive state, so he couldn't really regain his masculinity by fighting or beating up Bruno as he was completely unable to fight back. So perhaps Jacky was thinking he could only earn his masculinity back from their family in another way.
The thing is, Jacky is not a pleasant man. He acts out in very violent ways. When he was disturbed by Diederik, he made a huge noise in the washroom, needing to release his anger physically. He showed his jealousy of the guy that Lucia was hanging out with by beating him up so badly that he was in a coma.
But I think it was important to show his backstory to show where it was coming from, that he was coming from a place of immense trauma, and he never had a healthy outlet for it.
Diederik Maes
Diederik was Jacky's childhood friend. I wouldn't have blamed him for running away while Jacky was being held down and attacked because that would have been a very scary experience. But in the distance, even after Jacky was left alone, Diederik ran away.
Afterwards, Diederik apologized to Jacky that his father didn't allow him to testify against Bruno. But that seemed to be their final break, as clearly their relationship until adulthood was totally estranged.
Jacky was very perturbed by having to work with Diederik. As for Diederik, I think he wanted to mend their relationship but he was also respectful of Jacky's boundaries.
Diederik was working as a police informant. He had his eye on a male police officer, but the officer told him that they could only get together after everything was done and over with. Towards the end, when Diederik tried to kiss the officer, he said that they should still wait when everything was over.
Then, Diederik went to inform Jacky to evacuate. Jacky told his family to leave.
Then Diederik helped Jacky get rid of their illegal drugs. In that time in the farmhouse, Jacky asked Diederik if he was gay, but Diederik denied it. I wonder if Diederik denied it because he was aware of Jacky's feelings about masculinity. After Jacky's trauma, he overheard his mom asking the doctor if he would become gay because of the lack of testosterone, so I think Diederik was aware that Jacky was very sensitive to the topic and didn't want to disturb him further.
Diederik then drove him away. During that car ride, they seemed to be on talking terms, which was nice. Diederik drove Jacky to Lucia's place and encouraged him to go for it, though clearly he didn't know what the real situation was like (more like a stalker situation).
Lucia Schepers
Lucia was not actually that major of a character, but she was more of a symbol in Jacky's life. She was barely present in their childhood, only a girl that Jacky had been curious about.
In adulthood, she learned of Jacky as the odd stoic customer who she'd seen again at the club. She figured he was interested and so that was why she visited his house but at that time she realized that Jacky was responsible for beating up the guy from the club. From then on, she behaved in the normal way that people do when they realize they have an obsessive aggressive stalker.
I'm not totally certain that she figured out that Jacky was the kid that Bruno had attacked as a kid, as she wasn't really receptive to Jacky when he tried to explain. I think she was mostly just afraid and glad to be rid of him.
Themes
Masculinity
For Jacky, masculinity was everything. It was what he'd lost and what he spent his whole life trying to gain back, without considering whether he had. In his mind, he was always missing something. But his version of masculinity was rather boneheaded, making him someone we would describe as aggressive rather than manly.
As I mentioned above, I think his feelings towards Lucia were more driven by his feelings about masculinity rather than his actual romantic feelings for her.
At the same time, I wonder if we were supposed to consider it ironic that Jacky was a cattle farmer. Farming in itself is a bit like childrearing, which some may perceive to be completely feminine. At one point, Jacky helped a pregnant cow give birth. And that scene was followed by a scene of Jacky watching a family leave. And I think we're supposed to interpret that as Jacky ruing the fact that he could never have a biological family of his own. He grieved for the opportunity he would never have. And I don't think wanting to have a biological family is a feminine or masculine trait, just a human one.
Homophobia
This was shown extremely briefly in the movie. I think the people in this community saw homosexuality as a feminine thing. As mentioned, Jacky's mom had asked if he would be gay without the testosterone, so Jacky probably grew up seeing homosexuality as something very negative.
While Diederik only showed his homosexuality with the police officer, I think he would have been very careful to hide it from other people in that community as well, particularly Jacky and/or his family.
Overall
I do think this was a rather tragic story. Jacky experienced terrible trauma as a child and he never learned to handle it in a healthy way that didn't involve hurting himself or other people.