Clinch
Clinch is a tragicomedy series about three men being confronted with one another by faith. They meet for the first time in every of the six episodes and they get tangled up in an awkward encounter where they totally depend on each other. And while they flounder around somebody happens to die. Always.
Every episode tells a story of a slightly silly stand-off between three men in one particular place or situation: a car crash, a real estate home tour in a cottage, a driving class taking way too long, too big a single hospital room, a lift that gets stuck and a roof to escape reality.
Every situation gets out of hand quite quickly until there is nothing but one question left: ‘Now what?’ While they try to find an answer the three men are quite harshly hindered by language, not being an efficient communication tool at all. As time goes by any possible solution gets out of sight and the three get on the end of their rope. When they finally see a light at the end of the tunnel a skeleton comes out of the closet. Inevitably.
Clinch is visually dressed down to a point where only archetypes stay afloat. The series is filmed in black and white, and every single visual detail strengthens the power of dialogue. It is the dialogue, or even the impossibility of a clear dialogue between the three, that spirals them down to a deadly climax, every time again.
Clinch is the ultimate proof that faith has an extraordinary aptitude to create inconvenient situations. It is a proof that these situations lead to humor, a kind of humor that is awkward. Always.
Q1 2016
Herwig Ilegems
Roy Aernouts, Herwig Ilegems & Wim Helsen
Roy Aernouts, Wim Helsen & Nico Sturm
Proximus (Flanders)
Telenet (Flanders)