After watching Bavo Defurne’s 2011 film North Sea Texas, I was left wanting more than had even been offered to me. There is both so much missing and so much happening at the same time that it’s hard to appreciate what the film does right. The movie’s romantic plot falls flat by never leaving too much at stake; Pim and Gino’s relationship doesn’t feel real enough to actually matter, and the crush that Sabrina, Gino’s sister, has on Pim is unrealistic and unnecessary. North Sea Texas is full of heavy-handed, superficial metaphors. The film tries to discuss sexuality, romantic love, gender identity, and the idea of belonging, but few of these topics feel resolved by the end. The setting is stunning, and the cast play their roles well. The film’s problems are not in the technical details but instead the narrative and storytelling.
North Sea Texas follows Pim, a teenager who has fallen in love with his best friend Gino. Pim’s father is nowhere to be found and his mother Yvette is emotionally absent, so Pim seeks solace in Gino and his family. Gino’s sister Sabrina is herself in love with Pim, setting up the rest of the movie’s awkward, uninteresting, and slightly creepy love triangle. Her romantic fixation borders on stalking at one point as she lies her way into Pim’s bedroom where she steals a nude drawing of her brother from Pim’s private collection – in itself equally strange. This scene, and all of the scenes involving Sabrina’s crush, would better fit a horror film than an honest queer romance.
North Sea Texas’ attempts at metaphor cause a string of awkwardly juxtaposed scenes instead of connecting to any deeper meaning within the film.In the beginning we’re shown a young Pim trying on some of his mother Yvette’s, old clothing, suggesting a chance for Pim to discover his gender identity through crossdressing. Yvette is dating a man named Etienne, the owner of a nearby auto shop where Gino works. On the day before Pim’s fifteenth birthday, Pim and Gino masturbate together in Gino’s garage. Gino cleans himself up with a rag, which Pim uses and subsequently keeps. On Pim’s fifteenth birthday, he receives a knife from Etienne. These three scenes set up the theme of gender and specifically masculinity, a topic that is never really wrapped up by the end of the film. The symbolic connection between Yvette’s clothing, Pim’s sexual interaction, and the knife tries to raise questions about masculinity, but the film doesn’t deliver.
Among all of these events, we’re shown that Pim has a peculiar collection which continues to grow; it consists of some of his mother’s clothes, naked drawings of Gino, and the rag from Gino and Pim’s earlier masturbatory adventure. This collection highlights the side of Pim that is more sentimental and appreciative of his experiences. Gino has a motorcycle that he prizes heavily, but Pim eventually ruins it by shoving the aforementioned rag in the tailpipe. This is another moment in which the metaphor is so heavily implied that it feels too apparent to consider.
The film is rounded out with moments that just never make sense. A man named Zoltan begins renting out the extra room in Pim’s house. Pim begins spying on him while he showers, and Yvette and Zoltan eventually run away together (with no explanation). After Sabrina steals the drawing from Pim’s collection, she is angry at him because of his sexuality. Later, with no lead up or explanation of any kind, Marcella (Gino and Sabrina’s mother) becomes sick and dies. On her death bed, she joins Gino and Pim’s hands, and everybody suddenly realizes the truth about their relationship. These scenes don’t hold true to the characters built earlier in the film. In the final scene, Gino realizes his love for Pim, and there is no explanation as to why or how.
North Sea Texas is written so heavily that it’s hard to catch a break. There’s a lot of heart behind it, but the story never lands in a place that makes sense. The cinematography and acting are wonderful. Unfortunately, the metaphors are obvious and the emotions are too shallow. Nothing ever feels important because the dramatics never end. At its core, North Sea Texas is the story of Pim’s finding where he belongs. In the end, it turns out that Pim belongs with Gino.
