Jaco Van Dormael - Themes

Themes

Van Dormael's films, while few, have strong common themes between them. They make distinctive use of naive voiceover and examine the world from an innocent perspective (the young Thomas in Toto le héros, the mentally handicapped protagonist of Le huitième jour, and the unborn child of Mr. Nobody). These characters views are often colorful, imaginative, and somewhat removed from reality, with slight elements of surreal imagery used to illustrate their active imaginations.

His films also typically end with a death, which is portrayed not as a tragedy, but as a happy moving on where the deceased looks down happily at the world below. Between Heaven and Earth ends with a birth, but it is similarly handled the passing of a character into a new world. This pattern is continued in Mr. Nobody, where two deaths open the film and a unique twist on death at the end of the film conveys a wistful sense of happiness.

Van Dormael makes prominent use of nostalgic standards music, as well, featuring "Boum!" by Charles Trenet in Toto le héros and "Mexico" by Luis Mariano in Le huitième jour as recurring themes. Mr. Nobody used "Mr. Sandman" as its recurring musical theme.

All of Van Dormael's films contain surreal elements. In his first two films, these moments were few, like dancing flowers in Toto le héros or Georges flying around the room in Le huitième jour. Mr. Nobody makes much more extensive use of surreal imagery throughout the film.

Both Toto le héros and Le huitième jour prominently featured characters with Down Syndrome, and portrayed these characters lovingly, emphasizing their childlike characteristics.