Ben X (Nic Balthazar, 2007): Belgium

Ben X is one of the best films playing at the 2008 Santa Barbara Film Festival. I would have to say, in my opinion it is on of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. The story takes you on an amazing journey into the life of an awkward autistic teenager who wants nothing more than to be left alone and not treated as an outcast. Director Nic Balthazar took home the ‘Most Popular Film’ award, the ‘Grand Prix des Ameriques’ award as well as the ‘Prize of the Ecumenical Jury’ award for his work on this masterpiece at the Montreal Word Film Festival in 2007.

I had done some research on ‘Ben X’ before watching it at the Lobero Theater the other day and from what I could tell, it looked very interesting. I was satisfied to find that after watching the film, it exceeded my expectations and has become one of my favorite movies to date. Greg Timmermans’ (Ben) performance was outstanding throughout the whole film. You really believe his performance and feel his pain when the other classmates mock and tease him. It makes you want to do something about the other kids’ behavior towards him.

Ben isn’t just an average kid. He is very nervous around people, especially when the attention is put on him. He has autism and his so-called “friends” take advantage of the fact that he just sits there while they pick on him. Throughout the movie, you find that although Ben is a social outcast in the real world, in his online video game, he is a hero and often plays with a female character, Scarlite (Laura Verlinden). Scarlite shows him things about life he will never forget.

The movie brings about many different twists and turns and it leaves you on the edge of your seat quite a bit. You become attached to Ben and you are constantly wondering where his life will lead. The cinematography (Lou Berghamans) is amazing as it glides back and forth from reality shots to computer graphics. It really helps give you as a viewer the sense of what Ben is thinking and feeling even when he keeps his mouth shut.
The music was just as amazing in this film. The music was beautifully written by Praga Khan, who also compsed for ‘Vallen’ (2001) and worked on the soundrack for ’40 Days and 40 Nights’ (2002).

If you can only see one movie in the Santa Barbara Film Festival, I would highly recommend Ben X. The story is absolutely beautiful and it will leave you with an amazing feeling.