The Magnet Man tells the story of Lucien (Danny Ronaldo), a man who is a real human magnet: everything that is made of iron inexplicably sticks to him. After his mother’s death and a surreal funeral, his father gives him a violin full of hidden banknotes and asks Lucien to wait for him at the train station. Lucien, however, gets stuck on one of the carriages and ends up joining a small circus traveling to France.
There he meets Gervaise (a charming Isolda Dychauk), the beautiful daughter of the ringmaster. Hired as a cleaner, Lucien dreams of becoming one of the artists of the traveling show and in the meantime he falls in love with the girl. This awkward man seems to have found his place in the world, but a sudden call from the past will bring him back to his small Belgian hometown.
From an aesthetic and narrative point of view, the film pays homage to the great classic cinema: in one scene the viewer can feel the vibrations of slapstick comedies or those of Victor Fleming’s The Wizard of Oz; in others you can enjoy an atmosphere that vaguely recalls the tale of Pinocchio, Tod Browning’s Freaks or even Federico Fellini films such as La strada or The Voice of the Moon. However, all these references emerge in a rather organic way within the world built by the screenwriter and director.
The screenplay, however, is heavily indebted to some of the works cited. While it doesn’t offer anything particularly new, it remains engaging and enriched by poetic dialogue. Furthermore, the cinematography by David Williamson and the score by David Van Keer and Birger Embrechts do an excellent job of recalling all the genres and styles that the writer-director intends to pay homage to.
Danny Ronaldo (a circus performer taking part in a film production for the first time) is a charismatic presence on screen. He manages to portray a naive and dreamy man, and his clown physique certainly helps him in this task. Some secondary characters also stand out, in particular those played by Karel Creemers (who plays Cesar Malfait, Gervaise’s greedy and annoying father) and Jan Bijvoet (who plays Pladijs, the circus’ Pierrot Lunaire, perhaps the only character even more naive by Lucien).
Overall, Gust Van den Berghe’s film is a melancholic fairy tale interspersed with moments of physical comedy and sweet romance. It’s a good story that has the potential to appeal to younger audiences, but “adult enough” to connect with older viewers.
The Magnet Man was co-produced by Minds Meet (Belgium), Les Films Fauves (Luxembourg), Lemming Film (Netherlands), Coproduction Office (France) and Shelter Prod (Belgium). Coproduction Office also handles the international sales of the film.
The Magnet Man (2023)
Directed by: Gust Van den Berghe
Starring: Danny Ronaldo, Isolda Dychauk, Bruno Vanden Broecke, Mieke Dobbels, Karel Creemers, Jan Bijvoet, Willeke van Ammelrooy, Wouter Van Lierde, Rachel Ponsonby, David Van Keer
Screenplay by: Gust Van den Berghe
Production Design by: Natalia Trevino
Cinematography by: David Williamson
Film Editing by: Benjamin Mirguet, Thomas Pooters, David Verdurme
Costume Design by: Alette Kraan
Set Decoration by: Bouillon Blanc, Brienissen Groen, Natalia Trevino, Samuel van Broekhoven
Art Direction by: Audrey Hernu
Music by: Birger Embrechts, David Van Keer
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Bedazzle
Release Date: March 8, 2023
Views: 18
