Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

jokexom People often run away into imaginary worlds, these days it has become much easier to do. Active development of the entertainment industry and high technology gave to mankind online games - huge universes where you can be anyone. In the life of Ben mentally ill person, it is difficult to communicate with the outside world, the fact that the norm for others, for Ben - a mathematical equation that can not be solved.Each output abroad, at home - a struggle, any action, whether it be a trip on the bus or the presence in the classroom at the school - the struggle. But the Internet gave him a whole new world - Archlord game in the genre of MMORPG (his nickname Ben_X), for the year, Ben has made impressive progress. The computer game was much closer to him the reality, in which he has been acting in the role of public ridicule. And the most incredible thing that he has it - Princess who loves him, cares about it. Ben is not a stranger to her people, and a close friend, with whom she wants to meet you.In the picture on the screen constantly wedge shots from the game, Ben continually imposes reality on this computer. But he does so not from the fact that the game is a fan of these people sit down voluntarily, so they just bury their heads in the sand. Ben also has no way out, since even the atmosphere of our planet is deadly for him (he has a bad heart, and the stress caused by being in the urban infrastructure can have extremely negative consequences) of this kind of psychological relief is vital to him.Subject of care of people in online games, and a literal departure, when throwing a job or to part with loved ones for the sake of staying in an illusory world is certainly relevant. That's just not a movie about it, he, of course, touches upon this subject, but only indirectly, although in many reviews of wrongly focus on computer-dependent Ben.Ben constantly think in terms of the game, obviously it helps him, at least in part, to find a foothold in reality incomprehensible to him. His powerlessness produces a pity, in fact it is a bad person, just by nature incapable of adapting to society. But Ben wants it, every morning rehearsing a smile in the mirror - because it's made, or a studied response to questions his mother, he seeks to appear normal. Somewhere in the depths of consciousness, he does not lose the hope to join the society.That's just nothing comes of it. His mother drags him to the doctors who use Ben as a walking laboratory for psychological experiments, endlessly stuffing his pills, giving advice, which, however, no they do not help improve the condition of Man. Mother refuses to believe that her son did not fit into a group of his peers, says that "we need to fight," and every day sends Ben to school is actually giving his son at the mercy of sadists. Classmates are constantly inventing new ways to abuse of a fool, zealous to each other in an attempt to inflict more pain defenseless man.No, I can not say that he hates the whole school, some throw one or two sympathetic glance, that's just from this compassion, the soul is even nastier. Formally, these "sympathizers" like in the camp of those who "for Ben," people believe that "Ben is the same as us" - they are good. But none of them did not protect Ben from the cruel jokes classmates, these good people and sat on the sidelines the whole movie, because afraid to go against the majority.The film tells about how cruel people, Ben is a handy magnifying glass through which the creator of the picture shows what is in people. It is difficult to convey the impression of the picture, as the view there is a feeling like your soul with the force of an ice pick stuck trying to crumble it. "Ben X" indirectly discusses the "Rain Man" or "Forrest Gump" because these tapes are united by one thing - the main characters in them mentally retarded, handicapped citizens of society. They are completely different, this otherness makes familiar things find themselves close to these "aliens" is more prominent and bright: the evil inflicted by such person in the eyes of the audience increases a hundredfold, and good is all the more valuable and necessary.But at the same time, "Ben X" is radically different from the "Rain Man" and "Forrest Gump," if in the same "... Gump" people eventually find strength within themselves to accept such a hero Hank's what it is, in this case All submitted otherwise. Roughly speaking, a person has a long and severely beaten, in order to instill in him an understanding of the simple fact that Ben - also a man.Due to an interesting story, the director's findings, transferred to the screen the status of mentally abnormal, the acting brilliant, I can safely put in a number of all the films mentioned above. This is a masterpiece.

Michael Hall Being a professionally diagnosed aspie myself, there were several details and traits amongst this film that really contrasted my own personal experiences in dealing with the general public and their mass confusion towards mentally-inept differences that millions of other Asperger-diagnosed individuals like myself face daily. Truth be told, I felt as if I were watching myself throughout the entire presentation. This little Nederlandic/Belgium-based film touched upon so many similar experiences to my own, it was mystifying and immediately familiar to witness what our protagonist had to endure throughout the film. Let it be no surprise that this way-underrated gem has inspired and motivated me like no other Asperger-based film thus far. Hollywood still has an awful lot of work to do in order to truly convey the mind and personality of an introvert with such honesty and determined "high-end-functioning autism" ethos. Kudos to Nic Balthazar for writing and directing an honest portrayal of the sublime tension and utmost agony in which different-yet-the-same peers of my own endure regularly. Just because we don't smile all the time doesn't mean we aren't smiling on the inside. Forget "Mozart & The Whale", "Adam", even "Rain Man" doesn't quite hold a torch up to this film. I believe "Ben X" truly defines a generation of misunderstood savants yearning for affection by any means necessary. I strongly urge anyone to watch this movie at least once. You will most notably understand Aspergers Syndrome better and respect those who are diagnosed with it more so than ever before. Do yourself a favor: get over your dislike of subtitles and watch this movie NOW. I encourage everyone & anyone to watch. For our sake. Thanks for your consideration.

Sindre Kaspersen Nic Balthazar's feature film debut is a brave and visually symptomatic depiction of the harrowing consequences of social repression, that portrays the life of emotive teenager Ben who lives with his mother and younger brother in the city of Brussels. He has Asperger's syndrome and through the years he has been bullied so much that he has escaped into the computer game MMORPG Archlords virtual role-play world where he is a confident and courageous warrior. Ben uses this game to prepare for the unliveable reality at school where he goes under nicknames such as "Frankenstein" and "The man from March", but however hard he tries to adjust he always ends up in front of his computer with his head drained by suicidal and vengeful thoughts. Ben's fuse is almost burned out and the only glimpses of faith and hope in a happiness he has never know, rests on is his role-play partner Scarlite. Former Belgian film critic Nic Balthazar's first film is an adaptation of his own novel "Nothing was all he said", which is inspired by a true story about a 17-year old boy with mild autism who committed suicide by jumping from the Gravensteen castle in Gent because of bullying. "Ben X" is told through the main character's brutally honest voice-over, frequent flashback scenes and flash forward scenes where semi-documentary interviews create ominous forebodings. The film plays out in three alternative worlds; Ben's social realistic everyday life, the fictive computer game world in Archlord and the divided world inside Ben's head that balances on a thin line between reality and fantasy. Nic Balthazar's experimental filming creates a good pace which is accelerated by a soundtrack that really serves it's purpose considering the films serious depiction of themes such as alienation, collective bullying, autism, identity crises, suicide and courage.The title of the film refers to the Dutch phrase "(Ik) ben niks" which means; (I) am nothing. Through Nic Balthazar's creative direction, frequent use of close-ups and Greg Timmerman's unrestrained performance this movie is able to project the protagonist's versatile states of mind on the viewers. This is a socially intellectual film about a constantly relevant topic and an intimate study of character about a young boy who is repeatedly faced with a reality that forces him to choose between giving up his existence by his own hand or use the last grams of self-respect to retaliate.All though it has some similarities with American filmmaker Richard Kelly's "Donnie Darko" (2001) and Irish filmmaker John Crowley's "Boy A" (2007), this character-driven socio-drama needs no comparison as it stands so well on it's own feet. It reaches the miraculous in the last act and this unforgettable scene is intensified by the transcending song "Svefn-G-englar" by the Icelandic band Sigur Rós. This is futuristic social realism with audio-visual force.

K night I think that the concept of retreating into a fantasy life is not ego-alien to most people at some point, as it imbues one with special abilities and allows a much more rigid control over what happens in our lives. I'm guessing this may echo more true in the case of people who, for whatever reason, have less sophisticated social skills and feel threatened by the sometimes daunting task of adapting to this nihilistic postpostmodern world. Now the concept of creating a crystallization of this fantasy life in everyday situations is somewhat plausible, albeit not so much unless we delve into the world of psychosis. Ben seems to first imagine his virtual girlfriend as personified after he takes the pill the bullies feed to him (I'm assuming it was some sort of amphetamine), shifting the paradigm along the lines of substance-induced psychotic disorder, with lingering effects up until the end of the film (even though his mother dismisses the potential severity of the psychic process brewing - after all, psychosis is neurotoxic, so to speak). She is much more concerned with the overarching social adaptation in a sadistic world than achieving any real resolution to underlying causal issues. Technically, the film was visually appealing, the insertion of video game images rendered more palpable the idea of associative thinking that goes on in everyone's minds, you don't have to be on the autistic spectrum to fit into that mold. I didn't love the actor's performance, the build-up was reasonably OK, I didn't expect the twist, and yet it wasn't terribly fulfilling nor incredibly realistic that he wouldn't be vilified horrifically (more so) after staging such a farce. Anyway, the bottom line is that the story, in the end, is one of hopelessness, seen as how he was able to "win" the battle against his persecutors, and yet his ego defenses were so clearly feeble, and the external environment so threatening, that his only choice was to spiral into a psychotic world, so comforting and maladaptive that there may be no way out.