Borgman (2013)

Borgman review by Mark McPherson - Cinema Paradiso

Borgman is by no means all that unique for taking savage aim at class differences as numerous films have proceeded with colors much more flying. It is, however, one of the more fantastical takes on eating the rich, as though the directors have spiced it up with a muddy glaze of Earth-shattering absurdity peppered with sprinkles of brutality. There’s some teeth here for a subgenre that could really use some bite.

It’s easy enough to be won over to side of the filthy and down-on-his-luck hobo Anton who brings havoc to the rich. He’s driven from his underground home by an armed priest, vacating the one spot he called home. Think about how horrific this is for the homeless, when even when you’re out of sight, you’re still targeted. With nowhere left for Anton to go, and no point in hiding, he sets his sights on a mansion owned by a married couple of Richard and Marina, three kids in tow. Anton gives them a greeting of posing as an acquaintance of Marina, having been nursed in the hospital by her once. Demanding food and a bath, Anton starts getting aggressive and so does Richard. Marina, however, offers him secret pity and keeps him quietly content to his health and unknown from her husband.

Anton slowly begins to tear the family apart but not quite in the way one would expect. Rather than have Anton slowly work his presence of causing a feud between expunging the poor and helping them, Anton literally has the power to possess dreams. He enters into the mind of Marina and essentially speeds up the process of her despising her husband. And it gets even stranger from there. Anton will later team up with a whole group of conspiring figures to bring down the family, dabbling in poison and refitting Anton for further mind games by posing as a gardener. And the story only gets wilder from there.

It’d be easy to see this kinda story seen through the eyes of the rich family with the mind control aspect of the invaders being some major twist. But how many times have we seen that kinda film? A film where the satire of the class structure is seen through the eyes of characters either victimized by an unequal system or deserving of their punishment. Posing the story the view of such manipulators creates a much different tone of questioning the morality of the situation. I’d be way too easy for this script to condemn the mind controllers, considering the fatal fate awaiting their victims. But there’s another aspect to consider: How much of Anton’s action drive the family apart and how much of that is just on the family? Did Anton fully conspire to ruin a perfect marriage or did he merely just shove a crumbling one off the cliff it was doomed to topple over.

One reading of the film suggests that their marriage was doomed from the start. If Marina had enough of a heart to let Anton into her home while Richard only had fists, their views clearly didn’t align. And since Marina brings Anton in secretly, she’s hiding her true feelings from her husband. The mind manipulations of Anton and his crew seem less damaging when considering the darkness they unearth. Whereas the rich tend to conceal themselves in wealth to avoid addressing such societal issues, the less fortunate are naked and have no choice but to make their feelings known. With a means to take down oppressors from their safety, Anton and company find the way to tear down walls and give the rich enough rope to hang themselves.

Borgman is also just a remarkably surreal film, bordering on David Lynch territory in its focus of dreams and violence. It’s remarkably staged with a look that is both grungy and sophisticated at the same time, reading as a fantastical Parasite coated in a thicker grime. It’s worthy of rewatch value as well, though I suspect there may be a more problematic element I may have missed. At the very least, it’s a deeply challenging film that takes some wild routes.