Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-07T01:30:50Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Plot */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In Your Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some non-French speaking European countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]] - in reference to the journalistic expression, just like "c'est arrivé près de chez vous" is another expression used by local mass medias - became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture, sports, or philosophy. He had a religious education, and was once a pianist. He also happens to be an experimented assassin killing for money, and in a same time to be a complete psychopath going on murderous rampages for enjoyment or his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed the woman he secretly loved. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is declaiming an usual poem, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is the typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, theatrical release poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît Pappaert)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-07T01:22:07Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Trivia */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In Your Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some non-French speaking European countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]] - in reference to the journalistic expression, just like "c'est arrivé près de chez vous" is another expression used by local mass medias - became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed the woman he secretly loved. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is declaiming an usual poem, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is the typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, theatrical release poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît Pappaert)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-07T01:20:17Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Plot */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In Your Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some non-French speaking European countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]] - in reference to the journalistic expression, just like "c'est arrivé près de chez vous" is another expression used by local mass medias - became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed the woman he secretly loved. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is declaiming an usual poem, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is the typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît Pappaert)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-07T01:18:23Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Plot */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In Your Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some non-French speaking European countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]] - in reference to the journalistic expression, just like "c'est arrivé près de chez vous" is another expression used by local mass medias - became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed the woman he secretly loved. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is the typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît Pappaert)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-07T01:15:23Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Cast */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In Your Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some non-French speaking European countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]] - in reference to the journalistic expression, just like "c'est arrivé près de chez vous" is another expression used by local mass medias - became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is the typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît Pappaert)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-07T01:14:22Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Cultural references */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In Your Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some non-French speaking European countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]] - in reference to the journalistic expression, just like "c'est arrivé près de chez vous" is another expression used by local mass medias - became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is the typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-07T01:13:42Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Cultural references */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In Your Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some non-French speaking European countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]] - in reference to the journalistic expression, just like "c'est arrivé près de chez vous" is another expression used by local mass medias - became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Philippe Noiret]] (and [[Romy Schneider]]).
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is the typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

French fries

2006-08-06T20:55:36Z

Cardigans Iron Man:

The dish known as '''French fried potatoes''', '''French fries''', or '''fries''' in [[North America]] and throughout the rest of the world as '''chips''', '''pommes frites''', '''frites''' (France) or simply '''fried potato''', are long, narrow pieces of [[potato]] that have been [[deep fried]].
[[Image:Pommes-1.jpg|thumb|400px|A plate of French fries ([[American English]]) or chips ([[British English]])]]

==Name==
===Usage===
In the regions where the word "chips" is in more common usage, the term "French fries" is usually also understood, but is reserved for the thinner American-style variant as opposed to the much thicker slices of potato found in "[[fish and chips]]". In the [[United States|U.S.]] and [[Canada]] except for Newfoundland, "chips" usually means [[potato chips]] (called "crisps" in the [[United Kingdom|UK]]), which while also made of fried potato, are a completely different type of food. In [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]] and [[South Africa]] "chips" is used for both potato chips and French fries - the latter is qualified as "hot chips" if there is a chance of confusion (or ''slap chips'' in South Africa - slap, pronounced 'slup', being Afrikaans for "soft").

===Origin===
One proposed explanation of the origin of the North American name of the dish is that it derives from potatoes that have been "fried in the French manner". The English verb ''fry'' is ambiguous: it can refer to both to sautéing and to deep-fat frying, while the [[French language|French]] ''pommes frites'' or ''patates frites'' ("fried potatoes") refers unambiguously to deep frying. Thomas Jefferson, famous for including (then relatively unknown in America) European, especially French, cuisine in his writings and recipes, referred to fried potatoes in this same manner. The [[Japanese language|Japanese]] convention is the same as that of French, with the dish referred to as "fried potato".

A speculative theory is that the word "French" in "French fries" may refer to potatoes which are French-cut (julienned), with a later derived verb from this term, "to french," which means "to cut in thin lengthwise strips before cooking" (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Ed.) . It is true that "to french" is defined as "to prepare, as a chop, by partially cutting the meat from the shank and leaving bare the bone so as to fit it for convenient handling" (Oxford English Dictionary). However, the verb "to french" did not start appearing until after "French fried potatoes" had appeared in the English-speaking world (see History).

Other accounts say that they were once called 'German fries' but the name was changed either for political reasons ([[Germany]] was the enemy of the United States and Allied forces during [[WWI]] and [[World War II|WWII]]) or for simple historical reasons (a traditional theory poses that it was in France during [[World War I]] that American soldiers first encountered the dish). This seems unlikely, as Germany was not as famous for its "French fries" as other European countries, in addition to the fact that German immigrants did not seem to bring the dish over to the United States.

The [[Belgians]] are noted for claiming that French fries are Belgian in origin, but have presented no absolute evidence; the French have also been cited as possible creators of the dish, though most in France associate fries with Belgium. The Spanish claim that the dish was invented in Spain, the first European country in which the potato appeared via the [[New World]] colonies, and then spread to Belgium which was then under Spanish rule. However, as Belgian immigrants lived in Spain at the time, it may have well been a 'Spanish' dish invented by a Belgian chef. Whether or not French fries were invented in Belgium or Spain, they have become Belgium's national dish, making belgians their "symbolic" creators, at least for the rest of Europe.

French fries have gained international prominence perhaps partly due to their pre-eminence in [[fast food|fast-food]] menus, propagated by fast-food chains like [[McDonald's]] and [[Burger King]] (Hungry Jacks in [[Australia]]). This came about through the introduction of the frozen French fry invented by the [[J.R. Simplot Company]] in the early 1950's. Prior to the legendary handshake deal between Ray Kroc of McDonald's and Jack Simplot of the J.R. Simplot Company, fries were hand cut and peeled in the back of McDonald's stores, but the advent of the frozen product dovetailed with Kroc's need for quick prep products and expansion of his new franchise across America. In America, French fries are typically served with [[hamburger]]s, a latter-day descendant of the French "steak-frites" combination. They are also often eaten with meat, fish, and vegetables or by themselves. They also make up half of the classic food combinations ''[[fish and chips]]'' and "moules-frites", a popular Belgian dish consisting of steamed [[mussel]]s and French fries.

==History==
Many possible claims as to the origin of "French fries" exist.

Many attribute the dish to [[France]], and offer as evidence a notation by U.S. President [[Thomas Jefferson]]. "Potatoes deep-fried while raw, in small slices" are noted in a manuscript in Thomas Jefferson's hand (circa 1801) and the recipe almost certainly comes from his French chef, Honoré Julien. In addition, from 1813 ("The French Cook" by Louis Ude) on recipes for what can be described as "French fries" occur in popular American cookbooks. Recipes for fried potatoes in French cookbooks date back at least to Menon's "Les soupers de la cour" (1755). The "Feeding America" Web site, a collection of historical American cookbooks, has recipes for "French fried potatoes" beginning in 1882, "Miss Parloa's New Cook Book." The Food Reference Web site gives as an early reference to the name ''French fried potatoes'' as being in [[1894]] in [[O. Henry]]'s ''Rolling Stones'', where a comical French detective says "Our countries are great friends. We have given you [[Marquis de la Fayette|Lafayette]] and French fried potatoes."

During the controversy over [[Freedom Fries]], French people from around the world repeatedly clarified that the food was actually [[Belgian]]. Belgium itself also lays claim as the "origin" of French Fries. [[Jo Gerard]], a famous Belgian historian, claims to have proof that this recipe for potatoes was already used in 1680, in the area of the Meuse valley between Dinant and Liège, Belgium. The poor inhabitants of this region had the custom of accompanying their meals with small fried fish, but when the river was frozen and they were unable to fish, they cut potatoes lengthwise and fried them in oil to accompany their meals. (Belgian Federal Portal) In 1861, a Belgian entrepreneur named Frits is said to have opened a stand selling this product. He is also said to have given it its own name, frites, which is the French name for the dish in Belgium. Even up to today every village in Belgium has several of these fries (friterie) stands selling fries as the main dish and, in case something extra is desired, a varied choice of fried meat products to go with it.

The Spanish claim for originating French fries claims the first appearance of the recipe to have been in [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], where it was used as an accompaniment for fish dishes, and from which it spread to the rest of the country and then to Belgium.

The British also claim the "Chip" was invented in Yorkshire in the 1700s where it is believed that the potato was cut to the distinctive shape so that they may be lined up between two pieces of bread to make a [[Chip butty|Chip Butty]].

==Variants==
French fries have numerous variants, from "thick-cut" to "shoestring", "curly", and "waffle-cut". They can also be coated with [[breading]] and [[spice]]s to create "seasoned fries", or cut thickly with the skin left on to create "potato wedges" or without the skin to create "steak fries" - essentially the American equivalent of the British "chip". Sometimes French fries are cooked in the oven as a final step in the preparation (having been coated with oil during preparation at the factory): these are often sold frozen, and are called "oven fries."

In France, the thick-cut fries are called "pommes Pont-Neuf", cut about 10mm square. Thinner variants are "pommes allumettes" (matchstick potatoes), 3-4mm square, "pommes pailles" (straw potatoes), somewhat thinner, and "pommes gaufrette" (waffle potatoes), cross cut. The two-bath technique is standard. (Bocuse)

In Australia, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and many other countries, the term ''French fries'' is only used by fast-food restaurants serving narrow-cut (shoestring) fries prepared in the American style. Traditional ''chips'' in the United Kingdom are usually cut much thicker, typically between 3/8 and 1/2 inches square in cross section and cooked twice (see Belgium below), making them less crunchy on the outside and fluffier on the inside. This results in a relatively healthier dish as the area saturated with oil is much less. Chips are part of the popular British takeaway dish [[fish and chips]]. In the UK and Ireland, very few towns or villages are without a chip shop.

In another example of two nations being divided by their common language, [[potato chips]] are called ''crisps'' in [[British English]].

[[Image:Fritkot.jpg|thumb|A typical ''Fritkot'' in [[Brussels]] streets.]]According to American culinary celebrity [[Alton Brown]], Belgian ''pommes frites'' are usually fried in [[horse]] fat. Others maintain that traditionally, [[ox]] fat was used, although now nut oil is usually preferred for health reasons. [[Belgian fries]] must be fried twice, and are thicker than French fries, but thinner than British chips. ''Fries with [[Mayonnaise]]'' is a national dish of Belgium, often eaten without any side orders. Even the smallest Belgian town has a ''frietkot'' (a Dutch word literally meaning 'fries shack' which has also been adopted by the French speaking part of the country in addition to the French ''friterie''; an alternate Dutch form is ''frituur'', from French ''friture'').

'''Boardwalk fries''', are brine soaked fresh-cut [[potatoes]], that are quickly deep-fried in 100% [[peanut oil]], served in paper buckets, sprinkled lightly with [[salt]] and malt [[vinegar]]. Perhaps one of the most famous vendors of boardwalk fries is Thrasher's French Fries of [[Ocean City, Maryland]], founded in 1929 by J.T. Thrasher. The term "Boardwalk Fries" was registered as a trademark by a [[franchising]] company in 1982. The Columbia, Maryland-based company was formed in 1980 by brothers Fran and Dave DiFerdinando. The Boardwalk Fries franchise has become a popular eatery at shopping malls throughout the country. In 2006, they opened two Boardwalk Fries locations in Baltimore's Oriole Park at Camden Yards baseball stadium.

In [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]] and [[South Africa]], the word ''chips'' is used for both forms of fried potato; although the phrase ''hot chips'' unambiguously refers to ''French fries'' or ''chips''.

==Cooking==
[[Image:fries_cooking.jpg|thumb|212px|French fries cooking in the Joël Robuchon method]]

[[Image:fries_draining.jpg|thumb|right|212px|French fries draining after cooking]]

Some home cooks who prepare French fries from scratch cook them a single time in a generous amount of oil pre-heated to a temperature around 375 °F (190 °C) until they are golden and slightly crisp. The method recommended by most cookbooks, and used by many restaurants, especially those reputed to have excellent French fries, cooks them in two stages: first at a temperature at around 350 °F (177 °C), until the fries are nearly cooked but still limp and pale; then, after they have been removed from the oil and allowed to cool, at a higher temperature, generally around 375 °F (190 °C), until they are golden and crisp, which normally takes less than a minute. A third method, invented by the celebrated French chef [[Joël Robuchon]] for the home cook, is to put the sliced potatoes into a saucepan with just enough cold oil in it to cover the potatoes, then cook them over high heat until golden, stirring occasionally. Frozen French fries are widely available in supermarkets; it is not unheard of for them to be baked instead of fried.

The Belgian way of cooking frites is generally in two stages. First fries are 'pre-fried' ('voorgebakken' in Dutch) for about 6 or 7 minutes in oil preheated to about 130 °C (to get out most of the moisture), then they are generally taken out, tossed (to avoid clumping), and allowed to cool down. This intermediate product can be frozen for "instant" deep-frying later, or several batches of "pre-fried" fries prepared (e.g., when fries stands are opened for the day, or ahead of a large company of guests to the home) for rapid frying and serving later.

The second stage involves frying in oil preheated to 180-190 °C for about two minutes (generally the cook is guided more by the color of the product—a crisp golden brown usually being preferred—than by timing).

Many frozen French fries have been pre-fried, and can be prepared either by frying or by baking.

A number of outlets in Belgium use animal fat instead of vegetable oil when frying, this is quite appetising (tastes much like the roast potatoes cooked in the juice with a lamb roast).

==Accompaniments==
French fries are almost always salted just after cooking. They are then served with a variety of condiments, most notably [[ketchup]], [[tomato sauce]], [[barbeque sauce]], [[hot sauce]], [[mayonnaise]], [[tzatziki]], [[tartar sauce]], [[fry sauce]], [[Ranch dressing]], [[brown sauce]], [[vinegar]] (especially malt vinegar), [[curry]] or [[gravy]].
[[Image: IMGP4604.JPG|thumb|Dutch Fries with Tartar Sauce, served in cone]]

In the [[Netherlands]], (where fries are sold in ''snackbars''), [[peanut]] sauce is also popular (also called [[satay]] sauce, after the Malayan meat ''sate'' on which the same sauce is used). The Dutch also use the word [[mayonnaise]] to refer to ''frietsaus'' (fries-sauce) a thicker, less acidic sauce made specially to accompany French fries (as made famous in the film [[Pulp Fiction]]). Another interesting combination is ''Patatje Oorlog'' (Dutch for: ''French Fries War''), which is French fries with a variety of sauces, a variety that differs from region to region, and even from one snackbar to another. While it sometimes means mayonnaise (or rather, ''frietsaus''), peanut sauce and chopped raw onions, in other places it means the fries are accompanied with all condiments available. Dutch snackbars typically offer at least 8 condiments or combinations of them (the condiments are never free in the Netherlands), but some serve up to 40 different styles. The Dutch eat their fries mostly with the famous Dutch snacks such as the [[kroket]] and [[frikadel]].

In the [[United Kingdom]] the traditional accompaniments are salt and malt vinegar. More recently, particularly in the North of [[England]] and [[Wales]], [[gravy]] and [[curry]] sauce are available from some chip shops.

In [[Australia]], [[chicken salt]] is widely used in preference to plain salt.

The [[Germany|German]]s refer to a combination of salted French fries ("Pommes", or "Fritten") with ketchup and a large [[Currywurst]] as ''Kanzlerplatte'' (Chancellor's Dish).

In [[Denmark]] the traditional accompaniment to French fries is [[remoulade]] sauce.

Kidd Valley, a small burger chain local to Seattle, began cooking garlic fries which became so popular they landed a lucrative deal to sell garlic fries at Safeco Field (home of the Seattle Mariners baseball club). Later, restaurant chain Gordon Biersch began to serve garlic fries at their brewery restaurants and at Dodger Stadium.

In [[Utah]], and the surrounding area, French fries are often served with [[fry sauce]], a mixture of spices, mayonnaise, and ketchup. In the [[Pacific Northwest]], especially the [[Seattle]] area, fries are often served with tartar sauce, which may be sometimes be mixed with mustard. In the [[Canada|Canadian]] provinces of [[Quebec]] and [[New Brunswick]], French fries are the main component of a dish called ''[[poutine]]'': a mixture of French fries with fresh [[cheese]] [[curd]]s, covered with a hot [[gravy]], optionally with browned ground beef and/or a vegetable such as green peas mixed in. A simillar variant, [[Disco fries]] is found in several [[New England]] cities. In Newfoundland, Canada 'Newfie Fries' are comprised of French fries topped with turkey stuffing, peas, cheese and gravy. In the United States, fries are sometimes coated with melted cheese, called ''cheese fries''. Often this is in combination with [[chili con carne|chili]]. Cheese fries are a staple of [[New Jersey]] [[diners]]. Variations of cheese fries include fries covered with melted cheese, usually [[Cheez Whiz]], [[mozzarella]], [[Swiss cheese]], or [[garlic]] and cheese fries (cheese with garlic mayonnaise). [[Mid-Atlantic States]] often put [[Old Bay Seasoning]] on fries. These are sometimes referred to as "beach fries."<ref name=SGM>[http://www.thesunsetgrille.com/appetize.asp Sunset Grille Menu
> Sunset Grille (accessed June 27, 2006)</ref> The American fast-food restaurants [[Checkers Drive-In|Checkers]] and [[Checkers Drive-In|Rallys]] serve "fully loaded fries"; seasoned fried covered in melted American cheese, ranch dressing and bacon bits. In the north of the United Kingdom including northern England and Scotland, Chips, Cheese and Gravy is a popular dish.

In the [[Philippines]] they are often served with a sprinkling of cheese powder.

In [[Vietnam]], restaurants are usually found serving fries with sugar over a dollop of soft butter.

==Health aspects==
French fries may contain a large amount of [[fat]] (usually [[saturated fat|saturated]]) from frying and from some condiments or topping. Some researchers have suggested that the high temperatures used for frying such dishes may have results harmful to health (see [[acrylamide]]s). In the United States about 1/4 of [[vegetable]]s consumed are prepared as French fries and are believed to contribute to widespread [[obesity]] when trans fats are present.  Frying French fries in [[beef tallow]], the traditional but recently discarded McDonald's recipe, adds saturated fat to the diet. Replacing tallow with tropical oils such as [[palm oil]] simply substitutes one saturated fat for another. Replacing tallow with partially hydrogenated oil reduces [[cholesterol]] but adds [[trans fat]]. [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0813/is_n7_v23/ai_18650428]

==United States political controversy==
On [[March 11]], [[2003]], the cafeteria menus in the three [[United States House of Representatives]] office buildings changed the name of ''French fries'' to ''[[freedom fries]]'' in a symbolic culinary rebuke of France stemming from anger over that country's opposition to the United States government's invasion of Iraq. (''[[French toast]]'' was also changed to ''freedom toast''.) In response, the French embassy noted that French fries are Belgian. "We are at a very serious moment dealing with very serious issues and we are not focusing on the name you give to potatoes," said Nathalie Loisau, an embassy spokeswoman.

Even though the name change started with a few private restaurants across the country and was later picked up by the House of Representatives, many French people considered the quick and highly visible reporting of the name change needlessly spiteful, and a media-driven attempt to direct Americans' attention away from the serious reasons for French opposition. See [[media manipulation]] and [[anti-French sentiment in the United States]].

In June [[2004]], the [[United States Department of Agriculture]], with the advisement of a federal district judge from [[Beaumont, Texas]], classified batter-coated French fries as a [[vegetable]] under the [[Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act]]. Although this move was mostly for trade reasons (French fries do not meet the standard to be listed as a "[[processed food]]"), this received significant media attention partially due to the documentary ''[[Super Size Me]]''.

On [[August 2]], [[2006]], they are back on the menu in the United States House of Representatives. <ref>[http://http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/5240572.stm]</ref>

==Chips in court==
In 1994, the well-known owner of [[Stringfellows]] nightclub in [[London]], [[Peter Stringfellow]], took exception to [[McCain Foods Limited|McCain Foods]]' use of the name "Stringfellows" for a brand of long thin French fries and took them to court. He lost the case (''Stringfellows v McCain Food (GB) Ltd (1984)'') on the basis that there was no connection in the public mind between the two uses of the name, and therefore McCain's product would not have caused the nightclub to lose any sales [http://www.akme.btinternet.co.uk/solomn05.html] [http://www.legalpractitioner.co.uk/ip1.pdf].

==See also==
* [[Freedom fries]]

==Notes==

{{FootnotesSmall|resize={{{1|100%}}}}}

==References==

* Paul Bocuse, ''La Cuisine du marché'', Paris, 1992.

==External links==
{{cookbookpar|French Fries}}
* [http://www.kitchengardeners.org/belgianfries.html Authentic fry recipe]
* [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mfrenchfry.html Straight Dope Staff Report: What's the origin of French fries?]

=== French fry manufacturers ===
*[http://www.simplotfoods.com/index.cfm?content=products&class_id=156 Simplot Foods]
*[http://oreida.com/ Ore-Ida Division of Heinz Foods]
*[http://www.mccain.com McCain Foods]

[[Category:American cuisine]]
[[Category:Belgian cuisine]]
[[Category:British cuisine]]
[[Category:Fast food]]
[[Category:Potato dishes]]

[[de:Pommes frites]]
[[es:Papas fritas]]
[[fr:Frite]]
[[id:Kentang goreng]]
[[it:Patate fritte]]
[[he:טוגנים]]
[[li:Friete]]
[[nl:Patates frites]]
[[ja:フライドポテト]]
[[no:Pommes frites]]
[[pl:Frytki]]
[[pt:Batata frita]]
[[ksh:Fritten]]
[[fi:Ranskanperuna]]
[[sv:Pommes frites]]
[[zh:薯條]]

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:50:29Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Cultural references */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In Your Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some non-French speaking European countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]] - in reference to the journalistic expression, just like "c'est arrivé près de chez vous" is another expression used by local mass medias - became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is the typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:46:12Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In Your Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some non-French speaking European countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]] - in reference to the journalistic expression, just like "c'est arrivé près de chez vous" is another expression used by local mass medias - became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:44:34Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In Your Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some non-French speaking European countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]] - in reference to the journalistic expression, just like "c'est arrivé près de chez vous" is another journalistic expression used by local mass medias - became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:43:04Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In Your Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some non-French speaking European countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]] - in reference to the journalistic expression, just like "c'est arrivé près de chez vous" is used by local mass medias - became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:41:28Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In Your Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some non-French speaking European countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]] - in reference to the journalistic expression - became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:40:56Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some non-French speaking European countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]] - in reference to the journalistic expression - became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:39:51Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some European non-French speaking countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]] - in reference to the journalistic expression - became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:38:57Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used as tagline in some European non-French speaking countries, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression became the new title, including in North America.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:34:59Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before on stage in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was mostly released in non-French speaking countries, including North America, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:33:12Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and the shooting on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was mostly released in non-French speaking countries, including North America, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:31:30Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and shot on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was mostly released in non-French speaking countries, including North America, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:29:25Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and shot on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was released in non-French speaking countries, including North America, as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:27:11Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and shot on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''" as a pun for "A Family Comedy". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was released in North America as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:25:53Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast is made of semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and shot on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was released in North America as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:24:23Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its adult audience restricted rating, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast includes semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and shot on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was released in North America as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:23:19Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its mature oriented content, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, got a name in France, where he only appeared before in his not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast includes semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and shot on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was released in North America as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:21:23Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its mature oriented content, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, became got a name in France, where he had previously played in the not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast includes semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and shot on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was released in North America as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:20:20Z

Cardigans Iron Man:

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
Despite, or thanks, to its mature oriented content, the movie quickly earned a "cult film" status in French speaking countries, and Benoit Poelvoorde, its main actor, became got a name in France, where he had previously played in the not famous [[Modèle Déposé]] comedy show.

The movie earned three awards at the film [[Festival de Cannes]]. It also has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of the Man Bites Dog's includes semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and shot on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was released in North America as [[Man bites dog (journalism)|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, enjoyment and his own ego.

A film crew made up of three young men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso.
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment.

Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].
* Ben is fond of "[[Moules-frites|moules-frites]]" ([[French fries]] with [[Blue mussel|blue mussels]]) which is a typical Belgian dinner.

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour, ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben (aka Benoît)
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:15:28Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
It has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the filmmakers (and the viewer) with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of Man Bites Dog's cast includes semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and shot on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was released in North America as ''[[Man bites dog|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, his own enjoyment and his ego. A film crew made up of three men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso. At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment. Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:14:38Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
It has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the filmmakers (and the viewer) with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of the Man Bites Dog's cast includes semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and shot on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was released in North America as ''[[Man bites dog|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, his own enjoyment and his ego. A film crew made up of three men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso. At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment. Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:12:03Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
It has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the filmmakers (and the viewer) with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of the Man Bites Dog's includes semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and shot on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was released in North America as ''[[Man bites dog|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, his own enjoyment and his ego. A film crew made up of three men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso. At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment. Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:11:22Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
It has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the filmmakers/the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of the Man Bites Dog's includes semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and shot on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was released in North America as ''[[Man bites dog|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, his own enjoyment and his ego. A film crew made up of three men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso. At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment. Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}

Man Bites Dog (film)

2006-08-06T20:11:04Z

Cardigans Iron Man: /* Overview */

{{Infobox Film | name = Man Bites Dog
| image = Man Bites Dog film.jpg
| caption = Criterion Collection DVD cover
| director = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| producer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| writer = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[André Bonzel]] [[Benoît Poelvoorde]] [[Vincent Tavier]]
| starring = [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]
| music =
| cinematography = [[André Bonzel]]
| editing = [[Rémy Belvaux]] [[Eric Dardill]]
| distributor =
| released = [[Image:Flag of France.svg|22px|France]] May, [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|22px|Canada]] [[September 12]], [[1992]] [[Image:Flag of the United States.svg|22px|USA]] [[January 15]], [[1993]]
| country = Belgium
| runtime = 95 min
| language = [[French language|French]]
| budget =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| amg_id = 1:31072
| imdb_id = 0103905
}}

'''C'est Arrivé Près De Chez Vous''' (aka '''''Man Bites Dog''''', aka '''''It Happened In Your Neighborhood''''') is a [[1992 in film|1992]], [[Black-and-white|black and white]] satirical [[black comedy]]/[[mockumentary]] starring [[Benoît Poelvoorde]]. This is a [[French language]] movie but both director and actors are Belgians and the action was shot in their country.

== Overview ==
[[Image:Poelvoorde1.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben in a [[Hollywood]] man hunt scene parody]]
It has the dubious honor of being the film permitted in the [[United States]] that has been banned in the greatest number of non-U.S. countries. Following the wave of [[Reality television|Reality TV]] a crew of rooky filmmakers follow a [[serial killer]] recording his crimes and grotesquely candid commentary for a [[Documentary film|documentary]] they are producing. At first dispassionate observers, they find themselves caught up in the increasingly chaotic violence.

At first the killer try to seduce the filmmahers/the viewer with his charisma, as the etymoly for seduction is "taking aside from the right way". The hitman's naive, sometimes sadic, sense of humor has a major part of his charisma. The more and more, the killer uses the filmmakers' own 'voyeurism' to make them partners in crime in extreme acts. Actually the filmmakers are an obvious metaphor for the viewer, as the latter watch the killer on screen just like the camera operator watch him in his teleobjective. Finally the movie bring accusation on the viewer, he demonstrates him how much his own passive tolerance makes him responsible for a such violent and [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] society.

A good illustration of this analysis can be found in the scene in which two kids are playing with plastic guns. Enters the killer who plays with them, in a soft, but sadic symbolic act, the killer aim at close range and hit the kid, with an innocent plactic arrow, two times in a row and he smiles as smiles the kid. Than the playing children scene cuts and follows a fast paced montage of real gun shots. In a few seconds, the viewer watch the killer shooting with plastic toys, then repeating the same act for real. In this particular scene, the movie blames ourselves on two things, first for educating children with nothing but violence and murder, second for watching violent acts on projection screen.

The same message appeared five years later, in a similar movie, [[Assassin(s)]] [http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:155019 ¹], by French director [[Mathieu Kassovitz]].

A large part of the Man Bites Dog's includes semi-professional actors, including Poelvoorde's real-life parents and grandparents playing their own role. The majority of the actors have kept their actual names which increases realism. This effect is also strenghtened by the use of hand-held camera and shot on real locations.

Man Bites Dog's tagline is "''A Killer Comedy''". The literal English rendering of the title is ''It Happened In You Neighborhood'', which was used in some European countries, but the film was released in North America as ''[[Man bites dog|Man Bites Dog]], in reference to the journalistic expression.

== Plot ==
{{Spoiler}}
[[Image:Dandyben.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Ben's [[dandy]] side]]
[[Image:Cinemadevilleenville.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Drunken Ben, dressed in [[Santa Claus]], singing "Cinéma" down in the streets]]
Benoit is a charming and charismatic, young man, he maintains a healthy relationship with his parents, plays the piano and discusses in length whatever comes to mind, be it architecture or philosophy. He also happens to be a complete psychopath, going on murderous rampages simply for money, his own enjoyment and his ego. A film crew made up of three men join Benoit on his sadistic adventures, recording the sickening actions as part of their own documentry about him. Benoit takes them to meet family and friends, while in the meantime explaining in length the "craft" of his work. Eventually, the filmakers take part in the killings, helping him to dispose of the bodies. However, one by one, the crew are killed off through different means, such as being shot by a soon to be victim of Benoit who also happens to be a local Mafioso. At one point, Benoit and his documentarians run across another group of filmmakers making a documentary about another serial killer. They also take part in a drunken gang rape of a woman who they catch fornicating with her husband after breaking into an apartment. Eventually, the Mafia find that Benoit has killed one of their own and send skewered rats to him and those he cares for as warnings. Benoit is also caught by the authorities and sent to prison. He escapes, nonetheless, and calls his friends from the film crew to drive him back home. There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has killed his family and friends. Returning to his hideout, he tells the filmmakers what he intends to do. Just as he is explaining, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed off camera by the vengeful gangsters.

{{endspoiler}}

==Cultural references==
[[Image:Unptitgregory.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Remy & Ben playing the "p'tit Gregory" game]]
* The "p'tit Grégory" (lil' Gregory) joke is a black humor reference to the 1984, famous, tragic "Affaire du petit Grégory" [http://www.linternaute.com/histoire/motcle/2765/a/1/1/affaire_gregory.shtml ¹]. On October 16th the corpse of missing Grégory Villemin (4.5 years old) is found in a trash bag flotting in the French [[Vologne]] river ([[Vosges]], near Germany and Belgium). At first the uncle was accusated of murder, than the child's own mother, but they were disculped and the largely mediatized affair lasted for ten years. The killer was never found though.
* The improvised tribute song, "Cinéma", features a direct reference ("''toi Jean fils de Lucien, le cinéma a fait de toi un bon gamin''") to famous 1930~70, French actor, [[Jean Gabin]].
* In the "gamin"'s (the kid) house, Ben jokes about a scene from [[Le Vieux Fusil]] (The Old Gun), a 1975, classic, French movie with [[Romy Schneider]] and [[Philippe Noiret]].

==Trivia==
* The original, censored, poster was only used in the American DVD release. In theaters and video releases elsewhere, including DVD, the baby's pacifier was changed to an old person dentures.

==Quotes==
{{Spoiler}}
Ben defining himself in a grave speech:
:''Tour à tour finaud,
:''Tour à tour polisson,
:''Tour à tour gangster,
:''Mais tour à tour généreux.
:''Quelque soit le montant que tu me demanderas Rémy, toujours, je dis bien toujours, Benoït y pourvoiera.''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben taking a break in the middle of a dangerous man hunt in order to declaim a naive short poem à la [[Baudelaire]]:
:''Pigeon
:''Oiseau à la grise robe,
:''Dans l'enfer des villes,
:''À mon regard tu te dérobes,
:''Tu es vraiment le plus agile''
 
''translation needed''
 
Ben as off-screen narrator declaiming another poem in the likes of [[Louis Aragon]]:
:''Milles feuilles se croisent,
:''Dans un mouvement de vent brumeux,
:''De beaux marrons et de belles chataîgnes,
:''Rebondissent au sol sans qu'aucune ne m'atteigne,
:''Le froid crache son droit au dernier soubresaut estival,
:''Qui d'une ultime caresse d'abandon,
:''Chauffe mon corps engourdi par ce nouvel assaut,
:''Sans tambour ni trombonne,
:''C'est lui, le voilà,
:''Le merveilleux automne.''"
 
''translation needed''

{{endspoiler}}

==Cast==
*Benoît Poelvoorde as Ben
*Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert as Ben's Mother
*Nelly Pappaert as Ben's Grandmother
*Hector Pappaertas Ben's Grandfather
*Jenny Drye as Jenny
*Malou Madou as Malou
*Willy Vandenbroeck as Bobby
*Rachel Deman as Mamie Tromblon
*André Laime as Bed-ridden Old Man
*Eddy Lemerdy as Nurse
*Rémy Belvaux as Remy

==External links==
*{{imdb title|id=0103905|title=Man Bites Dog}}
*[http://www.benoitpoelvoorde.be/cestarrivepresdechezvous.htm Benoît Poelvoorde's page on the film] (in French)
*[http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=165&eid=240&section=essay Matt Zoller Seitz essay at criterionco.com]

==Other meanings==
''C'est arrivé près de chez vous'' (litt: It happened in your neighborhood) is also a daily news report series in Belgium.

[[Category:1992 films]]
[[Category:Belgian films]]
[[Category:Black and white films]]
[[Category:Black comedy films]]
[[Category:Fictional documentaries]]
[[Category:French-language films]]

[[fr:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]
[[nl:C'est arrivé près de chez vous]]

{{Documentary-stub}}