Josse de Pauw Movies

A handful of people living in a Belgian suburb react in a variety of ways to news of a tragic accident in this multilayered drama. One evening, Francis (Johan Leysen) returns home from a long day at the office with a large dent on the front of his car and a clearly unsettled frame of mind, both of which are noted by his wife Ann (Johanna ter Steege). A few hours later, the body of a young boy is fund by the side of a nearby road by Christine (Ina Geerts), Francis and Ann's next door neighbor. The police are called, but by the time officer Mark (Peter Van den Begin) shows up, the child's body has gone missing, sending Christine into a panic, a situation made worse by a phone call from her ex-husband Fred (Robby Cleiren), who is deeply depressed and contemplating suicide. As the night wears on, Mark learns that one of his sons is missing, and may be the boy who Christine found earlier, but while his wife Gerda (Natali Broods) works as a cleaning woman for Christine, she finds it impossible to tell Gerda what she's seen, or about Francis's possible involvement. Meanwhile, Johnny the Flow (Jan Decleir), a washed-up fighter who lives in the neighborhood, had heard about the dead child and is certain he knows who is responsible -- Njord (Franck Chartier), a drifter with a history of mental illness. Een Ander Zijn Geluk (aka Someone Else's Happiness) was the first feature film from director Fein Troch. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

One man finds himself pulled in three directions at once by his family and a chance acquaintance in this breakneck comedy. Miguel (Jacques Gamblin) is a single parent and Spanish expatriate living in Belgium who has to deal with a young daughter, Laura (Raphaelle Molinier), his busybody mother, Abuelita (Carmen Maura), and his pushy brother, Juan (Pedro Romero). Miguel works for Juan's travel agency as a courier and errand boy. Shortly after sending Laura off to school, Juan gets an urgent call from Miguel and he has to head to the airport. En route, Miguel gets caught in a traffic jam and encounters Sonia (Ingeborga Dapkunaite), an illegal alien from the Ukraine who is on the run from police after being freed from custody by a group of activists. Sonia has been searching for her boyfriend who disappeared in Belgium a year ago, and after much haranguing Miguel agrees to help her, but that's before he gets word from Abuelita that an accident has sent his daughter to the hospital. Fortunately Laura's injuries are minor, but once Laura and Abuelita hear Sonia's story, they decide to drop everything to help her find her man with Miguel along for the ride, regardless of Juan's feelings about the matter (or Miguel's, for that matter). 25 Degres en Hiver was the first feature film from writer and director Stéphane Vuillet. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Just how far should a father go to help his daughter gain fame and fortune? Jean (Josse De Pauw) lives in a working-class Belgian community, where he holds down a job at a bottle factory with his friend Willy (Werner De Smedt). Jean and his wife Chantal (Gert Portael) have a teenage daughter, Marva (Eva van der Gucht), who like her father, is interested in music; Jean likes to write songs in his spare time, while Marva dreams of becoming a singer. But Jean's songs don't seem to impress anyone but Willy, and while Marva has a good voice, she's overweight, has little charisma, and seems a poor prospect for success in show business. When the bottle factory is shut down, both Jean and Willy are thrown into dire circumstances, and Jean is trying to figure out how to support his family when his car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. He is offered a ride by a friendly stranger, whom Jean soon recognizes as Debbie (Thekla Reuten), a well-known pop singer. In a flash of ill-advised inspiration, Jean gives Debbie a heavily drugged beverage, and after she passes out, he spirits her away to a cottage in the woods. He then contacts Debbie's manager (Victor Low), informing him that he has the star hidden away -- and if he ever wants to see her again, Marva has to be given a chance to sing on national television. Iedereen Beroemd! was shown in competition at the 2000 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This French-Belgian drama, based on a novel by Odon von Horvath, is set in 1938 in a German city along the banks of the Rhine and Ruhr rivers. It attempts to provide insight as to why certain German youths were so easily lead into becoming Nazis by using two narrators, one a teacher who challenged the movement and another by a student who embraced it. Pabst teaches a group of teenage boys, all of whom seem to be young Nazis. The trouble begins when Pabst and a WW I vet are assigned to take the class to a military camp and a nature outing for urban kids. While there a boy is brutally murdered and they blame one local girl. During her trial, Pabst speaks out against Hitler and becomes pariah. Still he continues investigating the death, at great personal expense until at last he brings the real killer to justice. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

For his second outing as a director, filmmaker Philip Ridley once again enlisted the talents of Viggo Mortensen, who starred in Ridley's debut, The Reflecting Skin, and co-stars here with Ashley Judd and Brendan Fraser. Fraser plays Darkley Noon, a disturbed young man who received a sheltered upbringing from his strict Christian parents. When the elder Noons pass on, Darkly wanders off aimlessly until he is picked up by a passing truck driver named Jude (Loren Dean). Jude leaves the physically worn Darkly with Callie (Judd) and Clay (Mortensen), a young married couple. As Callie cares for Darkly, he begins to develop romantic and sexual feelings for her, feelings that threaten to turn violent when Darkly is taunted by the love between Callie and Clay. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi

This buddy-movie chronicles the exploits of two aspiring artists and their girlfriends as they try to achieve their dreams. The film is set in Antwerp during 1959. Jack is a sax player and his girl, Anita, a singer. As the story begins, they are seen practicing a bee-bop song in a small hall. Jack dreams about playing like Charlie "Bird" Parker in New York City. Instead, he works at the docks during the day and plays Belgium tea parties in the late afternoon. Jack's friend is Andre an avant-garde sculptor. Andre is only a little crazy. He gets involved with Lucy, who is also a little crazy. She causes Jack and Andre's friendship to disintegrate after she spends an innocent night in Jack's bed. Eventually Jack gets his chance to go to New York. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Based on the novel by John Fante, this film follows the trials of the Bandini family as they try to struggle through hard times in 1920s Colorado. Out of work and in need of money, Svevo Bandini (Joe Mantegna) tries to scrounge up the money his family needs to make it through the winter, while putting up with his nasty mother-in-law (Renata Vanni), his anxious wife (Ornella Muti), and his two young boys. ~ Iotis Erlewine, Rovi

Hector (Urbanus) is a 35-year-old mentally challenged adult who has spent most of his life in an orphanage. His opportunistic uncle Achiel (Frank Aendenboom) retrieves Hector in order to put him to work. Achiel hopes the move will free his own son from his chores and give him time to train for an upcoming bicycle competition. Hector's Aunt Ella (Sylvia Millecam) has dreams of becoming a Hollywood actress. After the uncle dies, Aunt Ella falls for Hector in this familiar comedy theme -- a child caught in the body of a man. ~ Dan Pavlides, Rovi

Accidentally stepping off a train at some God-forsaken whistle stop, a worldly, elegantly dressed Frenchwoman (Stéphane Excoffier) finds shelter in the cabin of a lonely Dutch pointsman (Jim van der Woude), whose life consists mainly of his work, daily housekeeping, and sleep. Using gestures, facial expressions, color contrast, and virtually no dialogue (the characters speak two different languages, anyway), director Jos Stelling builds his film on the opposition between the virginal pointsman's emotional aloofness and the blatant, provocative eroticism of his guest, which eventually makes her a hostage of his passion. This is an artistic film that will likely appeal primarily to movie buffs. ~ Yuri German, Rovi

Director Bobby Eerhart and second-unit director Hans Scheepmaker) have fashioned a convoluted but standard shock-and-schlock story beginning with Deleye (Josse de Pauw), a poacher and his wife Sybil (Chris Lomme) and ending with almost everyone dead except the cameraman. Deleye and Sybil live in the middle of a forest in Belgium, where he poaches game and ironically has named their home "Gamekeeper." Sybil's older children by her first marriage, Hugo (Marc van Eeghem) and Lisa (Annick Christians) live with them, as does Lisa's baby boy, fathered by her stepfather. Deleye is not easy to live with, but that is nothing compared with the sudden intrusion of Jim (Hidde Maas) and Charlie (Jack Monkau), two petty gangsters looking for a place to hide out. Their violent arrival leads to confrontations with the police and ends in a twisted liaison between Lisa and Charlie. After several killings, Lisa takes her baby and runs away with Charlie, with the military in hot pursuit. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi