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the audience applauded

Great Film overall

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The acting in this movie is really good.

Life does not forgive mistakes and some things look like inevitable. This is brilliant story, symbolic as it can be, which may not be easy to understand and maybe a bit daunting but it will keep you interested in the plot till the very end and the messages it brings are numerous and life saving: *the symbol of opening the door to a stranger and not being able to set boundaries, feeling guilty that we owe something to a stranger that never stops and turns into unexpected set of events. *we all are recognized by our deeds, not by one off events, the father who feeds 3 children, or poor guy who begs for shelter, and asks every day more, and never gives, only asks further....and the best ever message of the film is the energy of being close to negativity, or evil may destroy us no matter how smart we are, if we don't flock together, those who are better organized, smarter will win over, its the inevitability of life laws. no mistake is being forgiven, being naive is certainly one of them.In the end it makes you think if life really is simplistic black and white picture, if you believe in the God as the truth, and Evil as the ultimate lie then it is so. And humans are all this in between those extremes.

Before writing this review read some other reviews written here. Some of them clarified some of the movie's symbolism, which was useful for me as I felt rather confused when the movie unfolded. I do like surrealistic movies now and then but the second part of the movie and the ending left an unsatisfactory feeling. Besides being unable to really grasp the symbolism the movie started to feel predictable after a while. Never did it felt like Borgman's intentions could be stopped. After the first cracks appeared it was obvious that the castle would crumble. By not being able to connect to the victims I couldn't really care too much about it. I did love the acting and the whole atmosphere of the movie. What made it even more memorable was that I am Dutch myself. The language that was used sounded very archaic at times. As a viewing experience a mixed bag overall but possibly worth watching a second time after reading some more interpretation.

Who equates horror with the Netherlands? Windmills, tulips, cocoa, and Hans Brinker all come to mind but none of these things are cause for alarm. Director Alex van Warmerdam evidently wants to change your mind about Dutch stereotypes with "Borgman".This is one strange film. Who, or more importantly, what is Borgman? In the opening scenes, we follow a group of locals including a gun- toting priest, roust Borgman from his underground home in a forest. No explanation is given about why a mob is after this person, yet the inclusion of the priest hints that Mr. B. might be something other than human. Mr. B. alerts a few other underground dwellers that the jig is up and runs away. Mr. B. wanders onto the property of an evidently well-to-do couple in a boxlike house, asks to take a bath and when turned away by the man of the house, Mr. B. insinuates he "knows" the wife. A beating commences and Mr. B finally gets the attention of the wife who is feeling guilty over her husband's violence. So far, so good. Borgman worms his way into the lives of the family he's "adopted", aided and abetted by the wife who appears to be drawn to this dirty homeless man. The wife keeps her new friend out of the sight of her husband and bad things happen. About halfway through this unsettling story, all the tension and suspense is allowed to spiral out into surreal episodes that eventually become numbing. Borgman has friends. We don't know who or what they are. Two women might be able to become dogs. The family's gardener and his wife are destroyed in the film's most unpleasant scene, allowing Borgman to take the gardener's place. Shorn of his beard, he goes unrecognized. Scant reason for everything that happens during the second half of the film is where the story fails. It becomes boring. Since we cannot penetrate the motivations of the lead character or his allies, it's difficult to care what happens to whom. The director tightens the noose for an hour and then it all goes slack.The are some memorable visuals here, especially the bodies in the water. Many questions are asked of the viewer, but no resolution or answers are given to reward your attention. The ending is both abrupt and frustrating. One suspects that the director and screenplay refused to give any easy answers, leaving the viewer to either think this is one amazing metaphysical satire. Or maybe you just got your head messed with for two hours and ended up with a headache trying to figure out what wasn't there to begin with. Five stars for the performance of Jan Bijvoet as the title character and the aforementioned visuals. Now, about those dogs...

Few writers and directors try to stretch the limits of what a movie can do. Here you have a really interesting concept, which is to satirize upper middle class life in the West by juxtaposing it with a surreal group of characters and a ridiculous plot. The problem is that the movie takes itself and its message so seriously that the end effect is simply boredom. There is not a shred of humor or self-awareness or even fun in the movie--it's like a Bunuel movie made by a serious group of teenagers. Such a shame, because it starts off so promising. It's almost impossible to watch till the end, despite the occasional, wonderful visuals, such as the bodies in the water.