Schellebelle 1919

Schellebelle 1919 is not your typical movie, and I don't know if one should judge it as such. This project never really was about the result, it was all about the journey.

If one doesn't know the story behind the creation of this picture, one might be disappointed; its clearly not the best movie ever made. The scrip is a bit weak, screenplay often leaves to be desired, acting is a mixed bag with some strong performances and some rather poor ones. Photography is pretty good though, and the movie has a very authentic atmosphere. Overall I definitely found it enjoyable, but no more than that.

But if you know this movie is the brainchild of 2 guys in a pub making a bet that they could engage an entire (small rural) village to produce and act a movie; from the costumes to the set building to the acting, (almost) everything was done by local amateurs most of whom have never acted in their life (and most of whom will never act again). It was all done on a shoe string budget too, if you take that in to account, the result is simply stunning.

Ester Cattoir (Coralie Van De Velde) delivers such a strong performance, I have to wonder why I haven't seen her in other movies or at least TV work since. I was almost as impressed with Karel De Jaeger (Adolf Annemans) who I could have sworn to be a professional actor, and a good one at that.

Overall, as a viewer I would probably rate this movie only 5 or 6 stars if I didn't know anything about it, but it being what it is, I have to give it a solid 10 for effort.