MALPERTUIS

A fresh-faced sailor is taken from a port full of sleazy bars and Art Nouveau mansions and held captive in a crumbling Gothic house called Malpertuis: we only discover why at the end, in a denouement that is as scandalous as it is devastating. Kümel draws inspiration from surrealist painting (Magritte, de Chirico) and weaves sinuous patterns from the intrigues between the many characters. 

Preceded by a lecture, Belgian Cult Cinema, by Ernest Mathijs (University of British Colombia, Vancouver) and followed by a Q&A.