Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Toto the Hero Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 5, 2020

The Brand New Testament was my personal introduction to the films of Jaco Van Dormael, and one of the first things that caught my attention was Van Dormael’s kind of weird tonal balancing act that was often both disturbing and funny at the same time. The Brand New Testament probably offers a more deliberately scabrous sense of humor than Van Dormael’s first feature, Toto the Hero, does, though the earlier film has its own kind of weird tonal balancing act as it details the memories and/or fantasies of an elderly man named Thomas Van Hasebroeck (Michel Bouquet). Thomas is a resident of an old folks’ home, and he is evidently a disgruntled, angry man, due not just to his current circumstances, but also due to a life he thinks was “stolen” from him. That underlying resentment stems from the fact that Thomas is absolutely convinced (though the film offers no "objective" proof) that he and another baby born on the same day were switched and taken by the wrong parents when the hospital the babies were born in caught fire and an understandable panic resulted. The film initially features flashbacks offering Thomas as a young boy (played by a winning Thomas Godet), who would seem not to have much to complain about even if he's with the "wrong" family. His parents adore him, and he has a rather "close" relationship with his sister Alice (Sandrine Blancke), in one of the few elements in this film which may raise a few hackles. Thomas and Alice also have a sweet little brother named Celestin (Karim Moussati), who has Down Syndrome, with Thomas, who is slight and not exactly aggressive, appointed as Celestin's "protector" out in the world. Celestin, and in fact Thomas himself, at least intermittently do need protection from the bully that Thomas is convinced "stole" his rightful life, an inordinately wealthy neighbor kid named Alfred (Hugo Harold Harrison).

It's perhaps odd to base a "comedy" on a man who is undeniably bitter and out for revenge, and as such there's a rather melancholic undertone to the humor that Toto the Hero undeniably offers. The film kind of reminded of some of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's efforts at times, especially with regard to some of the more whimsical flashbacks to Thomas' childhood where, for example, his father singing a song and playing the piano leads to all sorts of "choreography" in the natural world, as in dancing tulips outside of the family home's window. But Toto the Hero also offers several tragic incidents that befall Thomas and/or his family along the way, including the death of his father which Thomas' mother (Fabienne Loriaux) lays squarely at the feet of Alfred's father, a local supermarket impresario named Kant (Didier De Neck, rather interestingly one of the co-writers along with Van Dormael and a couple of others).

The story begins ping ponging between three different eras of Thomas' life, the aforementioned elderly years and childhood times, along with a somewhat more developed "middle" period that finds an adult Thomas (Jo De Backer) wrought with such psychological turmoil that he scuttles at least a chance at happiness with a woman named Evelyne (Mireille Perrier). There are any number of cross connections between these three "ages of (a) man", and at least one other major tragedy intrudes which colors Thomas' emotions, but the upshot is by the time he reaches his "golden years", Thomas is out for revenge and has decided to kill Alfred (played by Peter Böhlke as a senior).

The structural artifices of Toto the Hero are among its more interesting assets, though the ricocheting between time frames as well as between Thomas' "reality" and "fantasies" means that it's often left to the viewer to discern both when something is happening and in fact whether it's actually happening or just the product of Thomas' fervid imagination. At times the "imaginarium" is obvious, as in Thomas' childhood dreams of being a secret agent named Toto (hence the film's title) who takes out Kant in some equally imaginary "gangster movies". Other moments aren't quite so clear. There's a "pretzel logic" in the overall formulation of the story which begins with a scene supposedly documenting Thomas' murder of Alfred, but which in the end (in more ways than one) turns out to be something else entirely. The film attempts to find some ebullience even in a rather shocking denouement, in what is just another prime example of Van Dormael's ability to combine seemingly disparate emotions in a rather artful fashion.

Toto the Hero Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Toto the Hero is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Academy with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.67:1. Arrow's insert booklet only contains the following fairly generic verbiage about the transfer:

Toto the Hero is presented in its original 1.66:1 aspect ratio [sic] with mono audio. The High Definition master was provided by MK2.

This is a rather striking looking presentation a lot of the time, though the palette doesn't quite pop with the candy colored immediacy I hoped for. It comes very close in some of the sun dappled trips down memory lane into Thomas' childhood, where bright blue skies and vivid orange tulips are offered with good saturation, but some of the other material can look just slightly tamped down. Some of the dark interior scenes, notably some of the moments with the elderly Thomas in bed, have a bluish grading that can make the grain field look a bit on the chunky side. There are several intentionally artificial looking moments (see screenshot 7) where things are kind of soft and ill defined. Fine detail is often quite striking on elements like intricately patterned fabrics.

Toto the Hero Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Toto the Hero features a spry sounding LPCM Mono track in the original French. Thomas' voiceover resonates clearly throughout, and the film's dialogue is always presented cleanly and clearly. Some of the intentionally whimsical musical elements reverberate with fun energy and nice fidelity. Optional English subtitles are provided.

Toto the Hero Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Memories of Hero (1080i; 52:00) is an appealing longer form archival piece with some good interviews with Van Dormael and Michel Bouquet, along with some other cast and crew members. The color timing of the snippets from the film is considerably more yellow in this than in the feature offered on the disc. In French with English subtitles.


• Francois Schuiten: Architect of an Unfinished Dream (1080i; 9:12) is one of the "other" crew members listed above, and this interview seems to be culled from the same session that is also seen in the above supplement. Schuiten provided some of the concept art for some of Toto the Hero's more fantastical elements. In French with English subtitles.


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:32)

Additionally Arrow has provided its typically well appointed insert booklet. The booklet includes stills, technical data, cast and crew information, and an appealing essay by Jon Towlson. The back cover of this release states that Toto the Hero is "presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK," and it looks like Arrow released this in Region B the day before its release here (per usual custom). That said, I don't see any prior release of the title on Blu-ray for the U.S. market, at least as evidenced by our usually reliable database.

Toto the Hero Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Toto the Hero is a rather odd film, but it's also captivating in a very unusual manner. I can't think of another film I've seen recently that wallows so unabashedly in regret and even envy and still manages to be weirdly sweet and charming as this film does. Bouquet is wonderful as the elderly Thomas, but the film also has a wealth of fine performances throughout, including by the kids, and Van Jormael has a really distinctive visual style that suits the story's more whimsical elements to a tee. Technical merits are solid, and the supplemental package very enjoyable. Recommended.