Toto the hero

I watched this about a month ago. It was pretty good.

It's a Belgian movie about a young boy called Thomas. As a baby, Thomas is involved in a hospital fire- everybody flees the scene, but when they go back to collect Thomas, they cannot differentiate between him and the baby in the next cot. His mother picks up the wrong baby, meaning Thomas grows up in a modest household, while the other baby, Alfred, grows up across the street in a big, lavish house. This is the basic thread of the film. Thomas ends up resenting Alfred, and this takes on a lifelong obsession.

The film, directed by Jaco van Dormael, is almost like a piece of magical realist cinema in that it frequently soars into flights of fancy, Thomas' childhood populated by surreal daydreams. It is this dreamlike quality that lifts the film up above usual coming of age tales. The wide-eyed wonderment of youth is artfully and emotionally evoked. Thomas contends with young love (his 'sister' Evelyne) and the archetypal bully (Alfred). The town neighbourhood is sentimentally portrayed in rich, golden hues and perfect houses and yards. It's not 'til later in the film does Thomas realise the reality of adulthood, and the exteriors become dull.

Still obsessed with the perceived theft of his luxurious life, the adult Thomas struggles to make his way in life- he tolerates his boring job, and pursues a woman who is the spitting image of Evelyne, in a similar way to the characters in Vertigo. Chance (but obviously important) meetings with Alfred crop up, allowing comparison between their two diverging paths. It's not entirely easy to categorise Toto the hero; there are moments of humour, but this is perhaps over powered by melancholy and heart ache; it works well as a coming of age tale, but also has a vested interest in old age and mortality. Whatever it is, it is a quite unique portrait of a bittersweet life.

7.5/10