| | |  | BELGIUM | Home » » Aaltra | | | | | | | Description: | | This irreverent road movie, comedians Benoît Delépine and Gustave Kervern, who wrote, directed, and co-star, show a distinct flair for understated physical comedy and defiantly non-PC humor.
Rural neighbors who hate each other come to blows one day on a farm and get tangled up in an agricultural tractor, leaving them both paralyzed, wheelchair-bound, and simmering with spite. But rather than feel sorry for themselves, the embittered paraplegics decide to seek revenge against the tractor's manufacturer. They take to the road, redirecting their frustrations with their plights towards the people they meet on the way to Helsinki. Captured in sharp black-and-white Cinemascope photography that complements its exquisite Tati-like sight gags, Aaltra undermines conventional attitudes toward the disabled with its dry wit and acerbic, vengeful characters. Look for some recognizable cameos, including famous Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki. | | | Features: | |
• Fipresci Prize London Film Festival
• Best Belgian ACtor Belgian Academy Awards
• Official Selection: tribeca Film Festival
• Official Selection Teluride Film Festival
| | | Product Details: | | | Actors:
| Aki Kaurismäki, Benoît Poelvoorde, Jason Flemyng, Jan Bucquoy, Benoit Delepine | | Director:
| Gustave Kervern | | Format:
| Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled | | Language:
| French | | Subtitle:
| English | | Number of Discs:
| 1 | | Studio:
| Film Movement | | Run Time:
| 90 minutes | | DVD Release Date:
| March 01, 2006 | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 7 reviews |
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| $11.95+ $8.13 *Shipping | New | | | $13.95+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $19.95+ $2.98 *Shipping This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | New | | | $23.07+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | | | $119.99+ $4.99 *Shipping | New | |
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| $4.16+ $2.98 *Shipping This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | Used
- Acceptable | | | $4.24+ $2.98 *Shipping This item is eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. | Used
- Acceptable | | | $5.13+ $4.99 *Shipping | Used
- VeryGood | | | $5.88+ $4.99 *Shipping | Used
- Mint | | | $5.90+ $4.99 *Shipping | Used
- Mint | | | $5.92+ $4.99 *Shipping | Used
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- Mint | | | $9.99+ $4.99 *Shipping | Used
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- Mint | | | $23.07+ $4.99 *Shipping | Used
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| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
 ( 7 customer reviews )
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 HilariousJun 13, 2007
By Gagewyn
Aaltra follows two neighboring men, one a farmer and one a telecommuting business man who lives for motocross. They have a bit of a feud going on, which culminates in a fistfight on the farmer's Aaltra tractor and both men being paralyzed from the waist down. The farmer directss his bitterness at the tractor that paralyzed them both and sets off for Finland to find the factory. The business man decides to go across Europe and watch motocross competitions. They both leave for their trips the same day and their paths keep crossing, much to the chagrin of each, until they finally begin to travel together.
This movie was laugh out loud funny for me. It pokes fun at society all the way through. The two men are both unpleasant. When their wallets are stolen the farmer attempts to mug passersby, while the business man attempts to block parked vehicles and charge a fee to get out of the way. One even steals an old lady's motorized wheelchair. They use their wheelchair bound status to stay overnight with a German family as it dawns on the family that they are being milked for free beers.
Other reviews talk about slow pacing. I didn't find this to be the case. There are long shots, but for a reason. For example, long shots of the German family watching the men eat, as the men snap it up and the family grows increasingly pissed off but tries to be polite. There is always something going on.
This is the most hilarious movie I have seen in a while. It's well worth finding a copy. Since it's pricey here, get it on interlibrary loan if you are just curious.
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Road Trip with WheelchairsJul 11, 2008
By Margaux Paschke
This little known gem of a French movie is dark yet funny. We are introduced to two neighbors who do not like each other too much, but then, most people don't seem to like them either. An accident occurs while they are arguing and they are both paralyzed. Their disability did not make them better people. They decide to go to Aaltra (a factory in Finland) to make them pay for producing faulty tractors, the cause of their accident and so their roadtrip begins....
The men are robbed while waiting for the next train and now, have no way of getting to Finland. They decide to try and take advantage of being disabled with hilarious to demeaning results. This movie showed the full spectrum of the their new "disabled" life. People can be cruel to them and they are cruel back but they do manage to laugh and make the audience laugh as well. Throughout it all, the two men remain focused on their goal - Aaltra, Finland.
They do manage to get to Aaltra but I cannot give the end away without ruining the movie. This road trip to Aaltra was sorta like the yellow brick road to their personal salvation, which they do receive but not in the way they expected. I can not recommend this movie enough if you don't mind subtitles (minor note, I wonder why the subtitles were a little off when foul language was used). It is an extraordinary film. Although it won a few awards at the lesser Film Festivals, it deserved better distribution and maybe the dvd will allow this movie the greater audience it deserves.
3 of 5 found the following review helpful:
 European "comedy"Oct 16, 2006
By Bookman
"Steve"
To enjoy this movie, you have to have patience. It is a quiet movie with little dialog and many long shots of fields or roads or people sitting. As I watched I wondered why I was doing it, but by the end, I realized I had enjoyed it. There are funny scenes and a humorous ending. The plot is that two men have a mutual farm accident and must be in wheelchairs. They then travel in the chairs to motocross races in Belgium, through Germany and on to Finland to find the manufacturer of the tractor which disabled them. It is not "hilarious" as the cover proclaims, but it is not as sleepy as the pace implies. If you like gentle, visual humor try this.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 "AALTRA is a knock-off of VALTRA"Apr 18, 2011
By E. Hernandez
The saddest thing about this Belgian film (Belgian French, subtitled for what it's worth) is not that the two main characters end up wheelchair-bound; it is that I could tell you the whole darned thing in an unusually short paragraph.
These two bozos, neighbors who hate each other, end up in a bitter brawl that leaves them pinned by one of the neighbor's farm machinery. Both end up in hospital - in the same room - and both emerge in wheelchairs for life.
That is when things get really strange. An inexplicable abandonment of their respective houses, and a trip to Finland with a shocking outcome, pretty much explains this Belgian black comedy.
While it has some intensely hilarious moments (these two guys are both unbelievably obnoxious and mean), this black-and-white film seems to consist mostly of random cinematic compositions. It's the type of thing I always imagined they assigned to film school students in cinematography 101 or earlier.
The black-and-white is tough enough to bear, though I see its reasons. What I cannot bear is that the film MAKES the viewer laugh at people in wheelchairs. When one random fellow screams, "It's people like you who give people in wheelchairs a bad name!!", I immediately thought how true ... of the filmmakers.
This is a 90 minute waste, a strung-together 'cripple' jokebook that in the end is not funny at all. As a man crippled and wheelchair-bound for life, I found it funny as hell in certain places; easy to empathize with anger, grief and a thirst for some sort of vengeance. Yet it is somehow frightening to see it in such mocking detail, and it is because of that I decided to warn viewers away from this thing.
If you want laughs and tears of revolt Euro-style (read: all the wrong kinds), get the original DEATH AT A FUNERAL.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
".... you give f...'in people in wheelchairs a 'f...'in bad name!"Jan 23, 2010
By (Rizzo) Rizzuto
Although this comedy was made in 2004, it is shot in black and white. In a French town, Gus (Gustave Kervern) is a farmer and a slacker while neighbor Ben (Benoît Delépine) has his own problems with his marriage and his love of the motorcross racing. The two despise each other. During a physical confrontation between the two, a freak accident occurs. The two men end up in the hospital together, both paralyzed and are resigned to wheelchairs. They embark on a 2,000 mile journey to Finland to sue the company Aaltra which makes the tractor involved in the accident.
It may be slightly confusing during the introduction to their dilemna, but the majority of the film takes place after the accident, Moreoften, hitchhiking is the method of travel. It is a long journey and the people they encounter along the way provide some amusing scenes.
There is not a lot of dialogue, the subtitles are easy to read. English is frequently used, and French/Belgium are the languages. At times, you may think translation is missing, but it is not, it has to do with the storyline. The stiff dry humor is black comedy, from subtle to downright hilarious scenes. One scene in particular is when Ben takes off on motorcross bike while the owner is furious and with the usual profanity in English, shouting "you give people in wheelchairs a bad name." Another is listening to a man sing the popular 60's hit "Sonny" in a karoake bar.
Comedians who play the lead characters, Gus and Ben wrote and directed the movie. The movie is presented by Film Movement, an organization that distributes fine foreign film that focuses on good acting, good writing and directing. .... This film won several film festival awards. See it! ... Rizzo
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