Lex Goudsmith Movies

Actor Jeroen Krabbe made his directorial debut with this Dutch-Belgian-U.S. drama examining anti-Semitic attitudes in 1972 Antwerp. Free-spirited 20-year-old student Chaja (Laura Fraser) has a long-haired revolutionary lover and sometimes visits her parents (Maximilian Schell, Marianne Sagebrecht), both concentration camp survivors. Evading eviction from her apartment, Chaja finds work as a nanny with the Kalmans, an Orthodox Hassidic family. Initially rebelling against the rigid traditions, she eventually comes to terms with their way of life as she teaches their four-year-old to follow his father's doctrines. Adapted from Carl Friedman's novel The Shovel and the Loom, this film was shown at the 1998 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

Karst van der Meulen has had marked success with children's stories in which adventure, bonding, and joint projects bring youngsters together for fun -- with a bit of wisdom or a lesson in life. Thomas en Senior comes up to past standards and again features Lex Goudsmit, a recurrent player in van der Meulen's films, as Senior. Senior is an elderly gentleman and friend of young Thomas (Bart Steenbeek). He has added appeal for Thomas because the police chief is his son, and he has a well-honed sense of adventure. When Senior invents an outrageous story about a pirate's buried treasure to entertain Thomas and get them started on some jolly good fun, his idea boomerangs. Soon there are leaks to the media (that sounds familiar), gangsters smell quick cash, advertising execs heat up their merchandising departments, and foul play raises its ugly head. Once again, a real adventure with lessons to be learned is up and running. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

Alicia is a Dutch housewife who has grown weary of being treated as a mere utilitarian object. She escapes from her family, and has a series of encounters and adventures, some of which are of an erotic nature. Because she is continuing to draw on her joint bank account with her bank-manager husband, he is able to trace her steps, though she eludes his grasp. Eventually, tiring of these adventures, she returns to her home. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This Dutch drama focuses on the trials and tribulations of a married couple who cannot stand to live together. The husband is an incurable womanizer, and the wife wants a more stable, responsible situation. Nonetheless, they love and care for one another. This film includes a number of explicit sexual situations, including a funeral wake which involves an orgy. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

One of the covert operations at the beginning of World War II is enacted in this fast-paced docudrama about a government-approved diamond heist. A Major from the British army (Tony Britton) joins up with a Dutch diamond expert (Alexander Knox) and another adventurous Dutchman (Peter Finch) to steal a fortune in diamonds from a bank vault in Amsterdam before the Nazis completely close off the city. The trio are launched under the covering fire of a British battleship in the harbor and then chauffeured into Amsterdam by Anna (Eva Bartok), one of many people they encounter who could be either friend or foe. There is no time to waste in emptying the bank vault because it is estimated that the city will be overrun by the Nazi army in just fourteen hours. Meanwhile, the war is intensifying all around them, and the Nazi soldiers already on patrol are a continual threat. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi