Patrick — Patrick(Blu Ray)

Here from the folks at Anti-Worlds Releasing is another slice of weird, at points rather wonderfully odd slice of cinema. Patrick is a nudist camp set film that blends ‘n’ blurs bizarre mystery, bittersweet drama, and tragic comedy. This Blu Ray release takes in a commentary track, and a good selection of extras.

From the year 2019, Patrick is a Belgium/Dutch production set in the tall evergreen forests of Ardennes, Wallonia in Belgium. After directing a few shorts and a good selection of TV episodes the film is the first feature-length film from Tim Mielants- who directed and co-wrote the film.
 
The film focuses on Patrick(Kevin Janssens)- an introverted and slight paunchy forty-something man, who lives on a forest set nudist camp, which is run by his ageing, tubby and oxygen tubbed father Rudy(Josse De Pauw). Patrick spends his days building furniture and fixing things around the camp- one day he notices that one of his set of hammers is missing, and he starts becoming obsessed with finding where it’s gone. Added into the mix his father passes, and certain factions of the camp want to take over its running.
 
The film opens with a beautiful shot coming in from a high shot of Patrick spread-eagled in a huge forest lock- he’s naked, and as the film opens, we see him walking through the camp with the nudist camp, with the residents greeting him by name. As the film continues the striking & skilfully moody use of camera continues- we get wonderful slow pans as the woodlands slip from daylight to dusk, interesting at times fluidly filmed set-ups, and spellbinding/ though slightly surreal woodland footage- for example, we have a slowed & driftingly atmospheric shot of Rudy’s ashes been spread- as the nude residents stand as if  in a of classical painting in a lightly mist touched wood.
 
Janssens plays Patrick in a cleverly nuanced manner- he’s a man of few words, but his insecurities, love/care for his ageing parents, and needs/ wants are subtle revealed. The surrounding cast is largely good too- and for fans of New Zealand quirkiness, we have Jemaine Clement( Flight of the Conchords) as one of the people staying at the camp. Other worthy mentions are middle-aged couple Herman(Pierre Bokma) and Liliane(Ariane Van Vliet)- he is a bespeckled and moustached busy body who's trying to get his hands on the camp, and she is a preserver making wife who on the quiet has a thing for Patrick. 

The whole film has a very quirky, at times dreamy air- at points, there is tension & raised emotions, but at others moments of care, love and poignancy. The nude novelty element passes quickly, and it’s largely presented in a rather just so fashion- with much of the nudity being focused on that of middle-aged to older men. At points, the film's pace does lull, but largely it’s a compelling picture- blending quirkiness, sly emotional depth, and low-key often darkly tinged humour.

Moving onto this new Blu Ray, and this is a region B disc. It features a few extras- first off we have a commentary track from writer-director Tim Mielants and co-writer Benjamin Sprengers, and this is a lightly chatty affair. They start off by discussing the film's score and who composed it, and how they managed to capture the opening naked floating scene. As they go on they discuss how it took eight years to write the film's script, and its influence for location from a holiday the director had a child in the 80s. They talk about the idea of the lead character being a constant in the films writing, and the idea of having a lead with no ambition fascinated them. They relate how Jemaine Clement came into being in the film, and how he added things to his own scenes. They talk about who designed Patrick workshop/ woodwork. Later on, they discuss influences on certainly scenes/ shots, the challenges of writing the script, and more. It’s not the most packed of track, but it’s certainly worth a play if you enjoyed the film.               
Otherwise, we get a sixteen-minute making of, a ten-minute on-screen interview with the film's director. There’s an eight-minute onscreen with the film's producer, three different versions of the trailer- which had issues with BBFC because of the film's nudity. And a full version of the funeral music in the film. With the disc comes with a 32-page booklet containing new writing on the film by Wendy Ide and David Flint, and film credits and technical details.

In finishing Patrick certainly is a very distinctive and one-off creation, which nicely fits in with Anti-Worlds Releasing other output. So if you like darkly quirky, at points awkward cinema with a whiff of mystery about it- then Patrick will be for you!.