This Oscar-nominated blast of a Belgian film about a pair of lovers who perform in a bluegrass band named The Broken Circle Breakdown is one part musical, one part romance and one part weepie.

It would be entirely understandable to find the notion of a Belgian bluegrass musical a wee bit suspect. Could these European lowlanders play convincingly in this rustic American style? Turns out they can. So clear your head of any awkward preconceptions and prepare for a wild emotional ride that takes you from the heights of amorous passion to the depths of despair, its terrific music serving as both hum-dinging entertainment and ultimately as healing force.

The script was a straight narrative. Johan Heldenbergh co-adapted it from his play with director Felix van Groeningen. However, during editing van Groeningen took scissors to the chronology and reassembled the tale in a partly non-linear order. This could, of course, have made for a right old mess, but instead the story is coherently rendered while infused with freshness
and plenty of surprise.

Adding immensely to the film’s considerable success are its appealing leads, Johan Heldenbergh as snaggle-toothed banjo picker Didier, and Veerle Baetens as his vivacious blonde true love, Elise, a tattooist who becomes...