A movie critic of Ben X

‘Ben X’, Belgian film director Nic Balthazar’s first production, is a story about a game addicted high school student who suffers from autism and bullying but eventually overcomes his hardships and achieves true happiness. Through predicaments of the protagonist Ben, the movie attempts to reflect ‘dark’ and ‘sensitive’ subjects of our society, such as bullying and mistreatment of disabled. What a typical didactic movie. With its relatively less enthralling themes and scale compared to those of other modern films, such as 'Iron man', equipped with sensational plots and scintillating CG, the movie ‘Ben X’ appears to be uncompetitive in a movie industry.

However, Nic Balthazar’s innovative methods in demonstrating Ben’s inner conflicts, psychological disturbances, and harsh realities succored the movie from being a target of castigation. Sound effect is one of the most remarkable aspects of ‘Ben X’. Pay attention to every sound that comes from surroundings of the protagonist. Every noise, even trickling of juice, is intensified in the movie. Such effect not only emphasizes hypersensitivity of autistic Ben but also implies the extent to which Ben would suffer by loud jeer and severe harassment of his peers, since even a common traffic noise can make Ben alert. Pay attention to close-ups of the protagonist’s face as well. Face is a canvas on which human psyche is delicately drawn. By frequently displaying Ben’s distorted and anxious facial expressions, audiences are able to intimately feel the inner turmoil of Ben through chaotic pictures of his psyche expressed on his face. In such context, the movie ‘Ben X’ is commendable for its ability to intensify emotional connection between its protagonist and its audiences by using several efficacious methods to illustrate mental state of Ben. 

Greg Timmermans, an actor who performed Ben’s role in the movie, enhanced the overall quality of the movie through his soulful acting as well. True performances should break the seemingly indomitable barrier between reality and fictitious world in a film, and they should be more realistic than reality. Actors and actresses with dearth of skills and talents merely appear histrionic as they carry out their roles. On the contrary, talented actors and actresses are able to integrate every aspect of themselves with that of characters they are designated. In such context, Greg Timmermans appears to be a talented actor, since he truly was autistic Ben in the movie, not Greg Timmermans who was acting autistic Ben. His unsteady breath, his gaze filled with turmoil, his unstable postures….. His every performance in the movie powerfully emanated the scent of autism and despondency of outcasts. His performance gave the audience impression that they were incompetent observers of a harsh reality, not spectators sitting on a cozy chair in a theater with popcorn in one hand. In other words, Greg Timmermans elevated the movie ‘Ben X’ to the level of reality.

Do not expect visual splendor from the movie ‘Ben X’. Instead, let Ben slip into you. Let yourself breath and share torment with Ben. Let emotional poignancy and intricacy of the movie shake your heart. 

    

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