While the prospect of a Belgian comedy about two-wheelchair bound cankerous fools is hardly the most enticing prospect, the resolutely un-PC Aaltra has its share of darkly humorous moments. Directors Delepine and Kervern play a warring couple of neighbours, Gus, a businessman (Kervern) and Ben, an unruly farmer (Delepine) who are both paralysed from the waist down after their on-going feud gets utterly out of control. Despite their hatred for each other, the pair set off together on a pan-European odyssey to confront the Finnish manufacturers of the tractor, and wrangle some serious compensation.
Shot in a grainy black and white, which lends the proceedings a documentary-style feel, Aaltra is a refreshingly mean-spirited road movie comedy that doesn't exactly present any of its characters in a favourable light. Indeed, not to put too fine a point on it, Gus and Ben are very unsavoury sorts, utterly disagreeable blokes prone to robbing anyone who deigns to help or, worse, pity them. The reliance on sight gags and the flimsy nature of the premise means that Aaltra gets close to wearing out its welcome, but there's something to be said about a movie with characters as nasty as this pair.
