User Reviews

I really liked Tom Barman's AWTWB. You just have to let it come over you and enjoy it while it lasts, and don't expect anything. It's like sitting on a café-terrace with a beer, in the summer sun, and watching the people go by. It definitely won't keep you pondering afterwards, that's true, but that's not a prerequisite for a good film. It's just the experience during the movie that's great.

I felt there were a few strands that could have been worked out a little more, but being a Lynch fan I don't care that much anymore :)

And I *loved* the style, or flair of this movie. It's slick, but fresh, and the soundtrack is a beauty. Any music-lover will get his kicks out of AWTWB, I can assure you.

I'll give it 8 out 10.

(music-wise 10 out of 10)

Barman just wanted to make a movie because he wanted to. Just as simple as that, and he succeeded. Not only in his goal, but also in making a wonderful movie, especially visually. He knows how to use pans, slow-motion sequences, tracking shots, crane shots, etc. in a beautiful, smooth way. This gives the movie a very relaxing feel to it.

The story is about the lives of 8 very different characters who have nothing in common except one thing: a party that they all attend to, which also is the turnpoint of this movie. The beauty of this picture lies not in the question how the characters have effect on eachother (in comparance with a similar, of course better movie like Magnolia). I simply don't think that that was Barman's idea. The beauty lies in the different details of experiences that people go through which makes or breaks their lives. Barman is very successful in telling those little stories that describe little experiences. He knows people..... and Antwerp.

The soundtrack of the movie is also excellent, but not a surprise as we know that Barman is also a very succesful songwriter and musician with his band dEUS. The music is sometimes hot and at the same time relaxing which contributes to the sunny, smooth feel of the movie. Other times we hear funky pop/rock-melodies which give some scenes the strength that they need.

There's only one flaw, and that's the last half an hour. Was it the runtime, which was breaking me up? Or weren't the last scenes that fresh and accurate than the scenes until then? I can't figure it out...

All in all a beautiful sunny movie which lifts the Belgian cinema up.

8 out of 10!

(It's the breeze that flows through a girl's hair on a sunny afternoon making her even more beautiful; it's the fresh breeze that makes you relax when it passes you at a crowded party when someone opens the door; it's the breeze that carries the perfume from that beautiful girl sitting next to you in the park who you just met a week ago; it's the breeze.....)

Barman directed Any Way the Wind Blows as he would sing a dEUS song. Anarchy rules over a logical and common strain of thoughts. The story behind this movie just goes any which way the wind blows. And that can truly be refreshing to watch, if you are prepared and willing that is. Viewers who state that there is nothing to keep the story-lines together are right. Who the hell is that Wind-man anyway? Still, I really enjoyed this movie. Antwerp is a beautiful, bustling, happening place and Any Way captures that feeling. It also captures the silliness, the racism, the bureaucracy, the addictions and the violence that reveals a new character of a seemingly friendly city. The movie is entertaining, funny and yes, a little shallow. Barman's screen debut will not make as heavy an impact as his music debut. In that light some might be disappointed. But then again, 'Worst Case Scenario' (the title of dEUS groundbreaking debut album) would be a apt subtitle for Any Way the Wind Blows.

Any Way the Wind Blows is Tom Barmans (who is also know as front man of the rock formation 'dEUS') debut movie. Entirely shot in Antwerp (Belgium), the movie starts on a sunny friday morning and skips rather superficially between the events that fill the day of a dozen of main characters. When the movie ends, you have a lot of stuff to think about, because most of the different story-lines are left wide open.

The movie has a (purely instrumental) sound track that will rock your socks off. In most scenes, the music truly enhances the general atmosphere and feel, really making the movie hallucinating to watch at certain points of time. The main scene in the film, the party, is very well shot.

The director didn't hesitate to use video clip techniques, having his main characters dancing on one of the best sound tracks I've heard lately.

The screenplay is great stuff. Camera angles and colors are very well chosen. The 'costumes' are very hot and very 'seventies' too. And I loved (most of the) acting.

The thing I liked most about the movie, are the subtle touches of absurd, surreal, very dry or even cynical humor that interleave.

Without claiming to be a comedy (this movie certainly is not a comedy but rather an alternative piece of art), it still manages to have its audience giggling and even burst into laughter at some times.

This is one more directors' debut that shouldn't be an ending. I hope to see more Tom Barman movies in the future because I had a good time. Cheers.

Tom Barman's Any Way The Wind Blows is a great movie, but (big BUT here) do not try to find a coherent story here. The movie is a mosaic of lives in Antwerp, Belgium, in June. We follow these people during whatever they do on this Friday. The most have only one thing in common: They end up at the same party that night.

The film is beautifully shot, the actors are all great, the dialogue is loose and realistic, the direction is terrific, but the one thing that makes this film really stand above most of the films made in Western Europe nowadays is... The Soundtrack (with capitals). I own it and it's on of the best compilations I have ever heard! Dance, rock, jazz, instrumental... It's all there. And it brings the film to a higher level.

Mind you, this is not a film for everybody, but for the people who are not afraid to see something else than the usual slick fare that is, alas, too common nowadays. And remember: "Although life is short, you have to perform all the miracles that you can..."

I bought this movie on DVD because I heard so much good about it.

I usually like " indie " movies, as this one, but I have to say that the first 45 minutes of this film seemed to drag on forever, not much interesting was happening.

This film really grabbed my attention when the party started and this part of the movie was really exciting & strange.

Well worth watching but don't expect a great movie, it has some truly wonderful moments but most of this movie is forgettable.

I keep this DVD anyway to watch this bizarre party-moment over and over again :)

MY VOTE: 6/10

This Belgian film, directed by Tom Barman, singer of the well-known group dEUS, will not be favoured by everyone. For the simple reason that there isn't a clear story or even a plot. This movie just shows 24 hours in "a city" (here Antwerp) and allows you to watch and truly enjoy the dialogues, the directing, the humorous (Dario!, the osteopath Bruno!, ...) and tragic (Windman, Paul Garcin, ...) characters.

There are several memorable scenes: the Windman on the beach, the dance party at the end, the KISS-fan, Windman visits the osteopath,...

Clearly some other viewers didn't understand what's so beautiful and interesting in this movie. They complain that this movie has no story, etc. But it's the atmosphere that keeps you watching and that will drag you into it.

If you didn't watch it yet, be sure to listen carefully to the music. The soundtrack is extraordinary just like Tom Barman and his group dEUS.

And "ssst, mondje dicht hé." (don't tell anyone)

A must see film with great dialogues, great music, great acting and a superb atmosphere.

In the film you will follow 8 people for one day in the city of antwerp, they are all individuals and sometimes plain weird (that's how I love them!).

I'm not going to say anything else, just go see and enjoy it.

What we have here is a classic case of TOO much patriotism. This is what happens when you live in a small country with very little (next to none, even) cinema history. Whenever somebody does come up with a slightly more ambitious film project – other than the usual dramas about struggling farmer families or long feature slapstick movies of local comedians – everybody feels obliged to love it and even responsible to spread favorable reviews across the countries' borders. This is especially the case when the writer/director of this particular film is already a nation's sweetheart, because he's also the founder and lead singer of a popular rock band. "Any Way The Wind Blows" is by no means a bad film, but it's definitely overrated (if that is even possible within the boundaries of a small country) and has absolutely nothing new or even remotely original to offer. This is basically the Flemish version of classic movies such as "Short Cuts" and "Magnolia" and illustrates a mosaic of characters whose daily lives initially appear to be unrelated but eventually come together in the end. The only thing that seems to unite the eight protagonists at first is the city of Antwerp, where they all live and work, but gradually the deeper relationships between them become transparent and near the climax they all gather for a party. The main problem with "Any Way The Wind Blows", at least according to yours truly, lies with the characters. They really are random, uninteresting and honestly don't experience anything that could be considered out of the ordinary. It was presumably writer/director Tom Barman's intention to depict the average & regular inhabitant of Antwerp but then, seriously, what is the point? One of the characters gets fired from his film projectionist job, another one is a failed novelist struggling with a marriage crisis, two siblings recently lost their father and the most "mysterious" one of them all is followed by the wind wherever he goes. There are a couple of more characters regularly walking through the screen, but they're even less worth mentioning. These people simply drivel on and on about very random topics (like life in the 80's, dates and each other's bowel motions) and philosophy about matters nobody cares about. Some of the dialogs do evoke mild chuckles, especially the interactions between the two twenty-something guys from Ghent, but still nothing extraordinary or even memorable. The film actually works best as a touristy video to promote the city of Antwerp and as an extended & versatile music documentary. There are several stylish & nifty sightseeing images of Antwerp and there's always beautiful music playing, whether really loud or subtly in the background. Generally speaking "Any Way The Wind Blows" is a competently made and stylish effort, but too mundane and slightly boring, and I honestly wonder most of its fans would even had bothered to watch if it weren't a Flemish production.

This movie blows you off your feet. This debut movie from Tom Barman (known from the Belgian rock band dEUS) introduces you to 8 intriguing people, building blocks of a compelling movie mosaic. They each survive one day and one night in the metropole of Antwerp. Barman paints his characters with great deal of verve and competently interweaves their individual stories, a tour the force that reminds of the best work of Robert Altman and Paul Thomas Anderson. The patchwork of anecdotes surprises, moves, amuses; the dialogues are so natural, they seem to be improvised. Some great performances by Matthias Schoenaerts, Natali Broods and the extremely funny duo from Ghent, Jonas Boel and Titus De Voogdt. Sam Louwyck is the memorable "Windman", a bizarre guy dancing throughout the movie. Sam is also responsible for the stunning choreography, and of course Tom Barman himself took care of the ultra cool Sound Track. We were seriously impressed: Any Way The Wind Blows is a movie that blows you off your feet.

I don't know what would be so great about this movie. Even worse, why should anyone bother seeing this one ? First of all there is no story. One could say that even without a story a movie could be worth watching because it invokes some sort of strong feeling (laughter, cry, fear, ...), but in my opinion this movie does not do that either.

You are just watching images for +/- 2 hrs. There are more useful things to do.

I guess you could say the movie is an experiment and it is daring because it lacks all the above. But is this worth 2 hrs of your valuable time and 7 EUR of your money ? For me the answer is: no.

Sympathetic attempt by Belgian dEUS front man Tom Barman in his debut film about the intertwined lives of ten people during a summer day in Antwerp, his beloved home town. For Dutch people watching this on DVD, you might wanna watch this with subtitles (which I did recently), because most of the dialog is in 'plat Antwerps'.

Tom Barman is a man who likes to leave all odds open. This is the way he likes to play records when he's dj-ing, his latest passion. Not long ago, I attended a party where he was spinning some records. His choice of music is interesting, but hardly fitting for the dance-floor. After three songs I was bored out of my mind, and so was the audience. There was no built-up, no climax and no connection and the dance-floor stayed empty. I've had a bit of a dEUS overdose in the past ten years, but there's no denying it was one of the most interesting music formations to come out of Belgium in a long time. In 2002, I went to a concert of theirs, which ended in a complete anti-climax (they ended with three ballads). Again, Tom Barman seemed oblivious to the fact the audience was snoozing for the last half hour.

Basically, this film offers a similar experience. Lots of ideas, well-meant, attractively shot, but it's little more than a loose collection of ideas. Some pointed out, this is the ultimate reflection of the many loose ends of the main characters' lives. Too bad the characters we're watching are quite obnoxious.

However, the cinematography is pretty good, as well as the soundtrack, and the final party scene is impressively shot and choreographed. But in the end, the main thing that stuck, was that David Bowie probably made his best records in the eighties.

I know.

Camera Obscura --- 6/10

I went to see it 2 times this movie, a friend of mine went to see it at the release party, and he was telling me it was so great, that I was expecting very much about the movie, to mutch, I couldn't enjoy it because I was not watching it in nuteral position. The second time I knew what to expect and I enjoyed it more than the first time. After The second time I felt so in the mood to have a party. I LOVED the music it's just great.

If Tom Barman improves his directing talent he will be a director where everyone will be talking about. If you can delivere this movie as your first you must be talented.

The acting is done by some great belgian stars (Dirk roofthooft) and a bunch of upcomming talents like Titus De Voogdt.

"Life hits us in the face........we must try to stay beautiful"

Debut movie from one of Belgian's best artists (he sings songs), Tom Barman. A long awaited movie and---happy happy joy joy for Flemish filmmaking---really worth watching, and a promising piece of work! It takes us into the lifes of 8 main characters that live through a Friday- and night. The title says a lot about the way we spend time with them: we float as they do into Friday night's party where they kinda' meet.

It's rhytmic style is very 'thought off'. Superb use of music. It sometimes takes the upperhand to the images and then you feel its power. Gainsbourg! QOTSA! The party scene (20minutes???) is a thrilling visual experience cause of the way that it's shot. It keeps you really with it while it's set in a small place with a lot of people having a big party.....so hard to shoot.

Thank you menijèr Barman for making this daring movie in these, already some years going, poor times of Flemish filmmaking. You made my day!

tom had a wish to make film for a long time and he did. it is as if he has visualized a dirty and worn out notebook full of great little ideas he has been filling up and carrying around for 10 years. no grant character transformations, no Hollywood ingredients just life and a little bit of magic. the balance, in speed, in weirdness in comedy vs drama is perfectly weighed. this film takes you on a journey that is over before you realize how nice it was. the music is great and your eyes will be equally satisfied. the fact that this film is about nothing, merely a sequence of sketches of people that are mainly linked trough a party of one of the characters, makes it very pleasant and surprisingly entertaining, it is brilliant because it is empty. in between the lines it is happening. to see or not to see, that's the ?

Some say it's a mixture of everything. True. A former dEUS' leader's effort is not as satisfying like the band's first albums. Neither characters develope in any direction, nor the story itself. Too many conventions mixed in one longish and rather uninteresting postmodernistic effort - at least from the side of storytelling author did not succeed. However one can really admire nice visuals, professional camera work and, of course, music. But really, if Belgian societies are as shallow and boring as the ones portraited, I'd rather stick to some other countries when planning my summer holidays. On the other hand, it's just a typical contemporary movie in vein of works by Tom Tykwer and others - nicely done, formally original, a little bit above average, but nothing less. If you're looking for a masterpiece, go somewhere else.

I think "Anyway..." is a kick-ass movie. Really. Tom Barman spent like years making it, and it shows: every scene is polished, has a meaning,... I guess most agree on that. One thing many people tend to criticize is the "lack" of story. I'm afraid that that's an effect of us being overwhelmed with "traditional" storytelling, all the time. I mean: what you can achieve with a book, you can't achieve with a movie, what you can achieve with a movie, you cannot achieve it by just telling it to a buddy. The problem is that we're so used to movies, series,... to be just a filmed version of a story; a visual recording of events -just like when you watch the news- that we expect every movie to have this epic characteristics: a strong storyline with a lot of unusual events. And I stress the idea of "unusual events": most people see on TV in the news, in movies, series,... very unusual things, once-in-a-lifetime situations. And here, in "Anyway...", there are unusual events, but not in the same "hollywood big explosion" kind of way: guy gets fired, couple back together, car gets stolen... and of course very usual things. And that's strong: just being able to appreciate all of that, that universe, that's art. And I agree that especially what can only be achieved in movies, that atmosphere created by the score and the photography is put central. But not like in traditional visual movies (visual blockbusters such as the Matrix); it serves the characters and remains deeply human. I mean, in every shot you feel the love that Tom Barman has for Antwerp and urban lifestyle. And he has no point with this movie, like to "learn" us something; and he has no big story to tell with incredible scenario twists. He just shows everyday people with everyday lives, he shows a city, all with their good and bad sides and says: this is us, that's our city, that's life, let's enjoy it. So basically, "Anyway..." is not only that super groovy movie, it also has a much stronger "message" (it's not explicit, maybe even not intended) than most movies how really intend to pass a message. One drawback: now, we'll have to wait five years to see the next Barman pic, and everyone will expect so much of it...

The story is about the life of common people from Antwerp, living their lives. So I said it, and there is nothing more actually to tell about the story. The movie is fast, like an MTV-flick, and well photographed and we feel that the director is talented and should do more films. So let's forget about this one and hope for the best with the next Deus-Barman picture.

This whirling movie looks more like a combination of music-clips at MTV than as a real movie. There is no real story and as the movie goes on you ask yourself: "What is going to happen?"; but nothing happens. The story around Eric Cloeck, the frustrated writer, is the only good thing. The other persons seem to have nothing in common: then why bring them together in a movie. With music you can make watchable the worst movie. When I open the tap and there comes water out with the music of Bach then most people will like to look at it but this is not a movie. The director should learn how to write a script for a movie of 100 minutes or more before starting to direct a movie.

How is it possible that no journalist or critic reminded us of the resemblance with that other better Flemish movie "Congo Express (1986)"? There are also some characters in congo Express put together without having really a relation to each other: Jean, (de Congolees), the workman, the two taxi-drivers, the street-singer, Roger, Guy, Lucienne and Gilbert. Of course, Tom Barman is a star and Luc Gubbels wasn't. That should not be a reason to pardon the flaws in the script (if there is a script) of Anyway the wind blows. The joke (the only one!) at the party about the ice in the refrigerator is taken from that great Flemish movie "De Witte (1934)" where De Witte is putting too much salt on the potatoes. Some accidents happen in the movie but there comes no explanation after. Tom Barman delivers us here a movie that is more like an experiment to watch at the television than a movie for the theatres. Another missed chance for Flemish Cinema.

I'm not the typical imdb movie-fanatic. I'm not even someone who really likes watching moves (I doubt I've ever watched more than 3 movies a month).

I liked this movie because the characters could really exist and really be living in Antwerp. Having often walked the thin line between the underground and the 'decent way of living' myself, this movie brought back memories when I watched some of the characters in there. Although the standard-issue 'tax paying upright citizen' might not believe this, I don't think I've seen one person in there that I couldn't compare to someone I've met in the past. This movie really shows live as it is living in Antwerp.

The choice of music i great. There's for example a drum'n'bass track in there at exactly the right moment that just made me want to start dancing right there.

I had some good laughs too!

I can't comment on (or care about) the technical aspects of this movie, but if mr Barman ever makes another movie I wouldn't want to miss it.

I dunno what the hype around this is... This is really a bad movie...it did nothing to me, the only descent scene is where everyone comes together at the party, and a nice song is playing, uplifting beat and nice cinematic shots that make you move....that was the best part of the movie... Otherwise this film lacks everything to suck the viewer in There's no story, there's nothing to think about like some people say, there's no cohesion between the different stories...it was more of an attempt to re-do Anderson's 'Magnolia' which was brilliant, but it fails blatantly... Okay it's light and easy to watch, but that are movieclips too. Maybe first write a story before you make a movie... 4/10 One of the worst Belgian movies I've seen

When it came out in 2003 I thought it was a good movie, for the time being, but now I think it is just pure nonsense; the film just goes about a couple of people who live their life and in the end al meet at one party and then still nothing happens. It is just really pretentious, movie wise, clothing wise and music wise. The music is something you will hear in a hipster bar, it mostly consist of accoustic jazz and bossanova's, some techno by squarepusher, and those typical 70's style funk with electric piano sounds.

This movie was "hipster" while hipsters didn't even excist back then in 2003 but it is exactly THAT! This movie is the guy who disrespects you because you listen to CD's or spotify instead of vinyl or because you drink American Whiskey instead of Scottisch Whisky; which has to be single malt, or that guy who prefers analog above digital or complains at you because you are drinking heineken instead of craftbear from a microbrewery... This movie is THAT guy.

Looking at some of the other comments here, I am as ever amazed at how much we Belgians like to keep ourselves down. God forbid a movie made within our borders should have a visual scheme in which the camera actually moves, or a plotline that doesn't wrap everything up neatly in 90 minutes. The plot for Tom Barman's directing debut certainly doesn't do that, it just goes... well... any way the wind blows.

We follow the lives of about ten people in the city of Antwerp over a period of about 36 hours. We follow stories of loves lost, attempts at succes that failed, illusions long gone. All of the people that inhabit this movie seem to be looking for something, anything that would give their lives a sense of direction. If the movie seems aimless or unco-ordinated, that's because their lives are.

Barman made a stilistically marvelous movie here, with an incredible soundtrack (even the film's detractors have to admit that much) and a very energetic visual stile. This is probably the first time that a Flemish movie has used a steadycam so often and to such great effect. Anyone who even remotely knows the city of Antwerp, will understand that AWTWB is first and foremost a loveletter to the city, which is lovingly rendered, not only in the images, but also in the characters, who talk in a way that absolutely rang true to me. Barman also gleefully shows off his knowledge of other movies by working in hommages to filmmakers like Godard, Woody Allen, Brian De Palma et al.

Yes, it's true, the movie is too long by about fifteen minutes and I, too, was looking for a sort of unifying theme that would wrap everything together. But ultimately, who cares? This is a very energetic, lively film that's enormously entertaining and does contain some insightful moments. Look at a scene in which a French teacher reads a piece by Kundera to his bewildered class. One of the kids tells him she didn't understand everything in the piece. "Did you enjoy it?," the teacher asks. She answers yes. "Well, that's fine then." The same holds true for this movie - there may be loose strands, but then there are loose strands in life, and it's not necessary to understand everything in order to enjoy it.

It may be style over substance - it probably is - but at least here's a man who's not afraid to make a stylish movie in the first place. Barman takes some chances here, he's ambitious, he's bold, he's going for a big show that has something for everyone - and even if he doesn't quite have enough to make it all click together perfectly, it's still a remarkable effort, that deserves applause.

I'd much prefer a filmmaker who goes for something extraordinary and scores a very, very near miss, like Barman here, than someone who simply aims for the same stuffy old clichés and the same predictable stilistical tics we've seen countless times before (as in the vastly overrated Pauline & Paulette, a movie that faked its way into convincing its audience it was actually about something).

AWTWB was a very successful movie here in Belgium, and if there's one thing no one will ever forgive you, it's success. As soon as people actually go see a movie and have a good time, apparantly, it can't possibly be any good. When Robert Altman or PT Anderson make movies like this, in which different storylines intersect and sometimes but not always congeal into a coherent whole, everyone applauds the way they break with conventional storytelling. When Barman does it, they look down their noses at it and call it a mess "that's not about anything." True, Barman does not yet have the emotional or narrative punch that these American examples have, but the talent is definitely there, and let's not forget, it is a first movie after all. No, I'm not a dEUS-fan, and AWTWB was really a first proper introduction for me to Tom Barman and his work. Again responding to some of the other comments here, I get the impression a lot of people dislike the director because of what he did in the music business or his supposed arrogance or pretention. I really don't care if he's the most arrogant man who ever lived - he did make a good film.