C'est arrivé près de chez vous (1992)

If your a fan of cynical, intelligent, dark comedy then I urge you to see this film! It is the masterpiece of the dark violence/comedy genre.

Man Bites Dog was way ahead of its time - before Pulp Fiction, before reality TV, before movies about the "real lives" of serial killers (Dahmer, Bundy, etc..) there was Man Bites Dog. Simply, this film is superb.

Benoit is a charismatic "up-n-coming" serial killer, working out of some Belgian suburbs. A scrappy film-maker convinces Benoit to allow his crew to follow him around on his exploits, documenting the madness. The set-up is somewhat surreal - kind of making out like there is a serial-killer "scene" in French-speaking Europe. Benoit, a natural performer, really gets into the idea, working the camera, beaming in the limelight. So eventually, to increase the quality of the movie, the film maker + crew go beyond merely documenting and start to become accessories to the crimes. Benoit's super egotistic demeanor starts to catch up with him, with the repercussions of his crimes pulling him down.

It is a multi-faceted exploration of many ideas, riffing on each within the episodes which make up the film (the "story" really exists to bind the distinct scenes - its not so much a story in the traditional sense ,ie. the old fomulaic "background - dramatic tension - climax - resolution" routine).

Many classic scenes, like when one of Benoit's friends is taking a little too much of the attention at Benoit's birthday party. Nothing peeves Benoit more than not being the center of attention, so, as Benoit is playing with his birthday gift (a new gun holster), his gun "accidentally" discharges into his friends skull. All the other party members sit covered in blood,in shock from the "accident". Benoit just sits back down and calmly resumes eating his birthday cake. Another great scene is when Benoit shows off to the film maker how he can save bullets by murdering an elderly woman with psychology (Benoit suddenly screams "Snuff!" at the trembling woman, inducing a heart attack).

This movie is just paced so well. We see Benoit warm to the camera, the film maker is slowly drawn into Benoit's world from mere documenter to full blown co-conspirator. The scenes of Benoit's family are hilarious! Benoit's parent's are stereotypical adorably ignorant bumpkins who will always love their cherished son. Just great stuff.

Be warned, this is not a movie for kids, as the violence is intense and graphic, and without proper contextual understanding, could be misconstrued as exploitive. Other than that this movie really hits that balance between violence and comedy, cold intelligence and raving madness. Highly recommended.