Home invasion pictures are nothing new but they are often perceived as endorsing violence, with antagonists laying siege on a family as a means to evoke terror as entertainment (see Michael Haneke’s Funny Games). Borgman is about the violation of a domicile; only it isn’t a full-on shock and awe assault. Writer-director Alex van Warmerdam aims for the slow burn in confounding audience perception. As the scenes peel away to reveal more puzzling situations and characters, the film beguiles with its unsettling mood. It is van Warmerdam’s sustained ambiguity that gives Borgman a disturbingly creepy-crawling feel. At times it feels incomprehensible, with the shifting of lucid dreams to wakefulness in a few sequences, but credit this off-the-beaten-path thriller as being a Nightmare on Dutch Elm Street.
Camiel (Jan Bijvoet) is a bad man. He must be if the local townsfolk are willing to hunt him down in malevolent fashion – with shotguns instead of torches and pitchforks. Living like a gopher, in a subterranean network of caves in the woods, he eludes the posse and makes his way to a nearby community, hoping to get a bath and a place to stay for the night. His affable demeanor but grungy appearance isn’t enough to dissuade homeowner Richard (Jeroen Perceval), who forcibly beats him in front of his wife, Marina (Hadewych Minis), at the front doorstep of his attractive suburban home. A few days later Camiel returns, his ratty hair and bird’s nest beard gone, and is unrecognized by Richard when he is hired as the family’s gardener. Marina, feeling panicked, finds difficulty being around the mystery man. With her marriage crumbling, she turns her attention to Camiel as an outlet. Her lucid dreams involving the vagrant-cum-pretend gardener doesn’t dismiss the fantasy, it only furthers the attraction. With the help of friends, Camiel slowly orchestrates a special home invasion, in which he wins over Marina’s children and nanny, Stine (Sara Hjort Ditlesven), through various forms of manipulation, all the while Richard and Marina’s marriage teeters.
Borgman may not be your garden-variety home invasion, which is funny when considering that Camiel takes on the role of a gardener, but it is the enigmatic tone and the film’s resistance to extrapolate details to the audience that allows it to work its way into the subconscious, allowing our imagination to make our own deductions. Camiel’s dwelling in the forest catacombs is never explained nor is his motives for the schemes he devises as he slowly worms his way into the household.
I am reminded of how easily we allow appearances to dictate our reactions. A vagrant comes asking for help only to be dismissed or, worse, go unacknowledged, then shows up later looking presentable and worthy of your attention. Borgman feels like Alex van Warmerdam is doing a social experiment about what happens when the bourgeoisie infiltrates suburbia and upends the status quo.
Myself, I let my own feelings derail my intention of seeing Borgman at last year’s Fantastic Fest. Though the premise sounded intriguing, I was more than a little put off by the publicity photo used in the film guide. The image was of Camiel in the nude sitting on top of Marina as she slept in her bed. Its arrival in theaters courtesy of Drafthouse Films adheres to the classic belief that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. It works with movies, too.
Borgman‘s observation of Camiel and his gang as they work to insinuate themselves into the lives of this one particular middle-class household is worrisome, as is the influence he can have on others making them submit to his will with the help of chemical-laden orange cocktails that fall somewhere in between Sunkist (heavy on chemicals already) and Jesus Juice. Moments of puzzlement abound (including the attire Camiel and his men wear while gardening), but also puzzling is Marina and her relationship with Camiel. At times she acts like a dog in heat wanting to be with him, all but forgetting her current life as a wife and mother of three.
Borgman is not a movie for everyone. In fact, I’m confident that more than a few viewers will not enjoy it. This Dutch thriller eschews formula in favor of perpetual discomfort. It’s not scary, but the tonality is bitter with a side of levity in the form of black comedy. Alex van Warmerdam maintains the slow burn to gratifying results with a conclusion that is both disturbing and satisfactory, and not the slightest bit traditional. Though if you pay attention to the squabbling between husband and wife perhaps the ending is justified in its rationale.
Director: Alex van Warmerdam
Writer(s): Alex van Warmerdam
Notable Cast: Jan Bijvoet, Jeroen Perceval, Sara Hjort Ditlesven, Hadewych Minis
