Jack Wouterse Movies

The fatal shooting of a Moroccan youth by a racist police officer finds simmering tensions between ethic Dutch and a rapidly expanding Moroccan-heritage minority bubbling over into a boil in director Albert ter Heerdt's more serious-minded follow up to 2004's Shouf shouf habibi!. When veteran policeman Frank (Marcel Musters) and his Moroccan-Dutch partner Aaliyah (Maryham Hassouni) receive word of a potential break-in at a local youth center, they arrive on the scene to find two teenagers crouched behind a dumpster. When one of the teens panics and leaps out from behind the dumpster brandishing what appears to be a handgun, racist cop Frank immediately opens fire. Now Moroccan teen Redouan (Iliass Ojja) is dead, but his friend Karim (Ilias Addab) somehow managed to escape without injury. As the community goes into an uproar over the senseless killing, Aaliyah struggles to discern whether her partner's blatant racism played into his split-second decision to use deadly force in the heat of the moment. Out in the streets, Karim and the authority-weary locals openly advocate violent protest while others such as Redouan's level headed older brother Said (Mimoun Oaissa), the owner of a popular youth boxing gym, urges everyone to wait and see what becomes of the case. Later, when Said is accused of being a traitor to his own people, he begins to grow uncomfortable in his relationship with his white girlfriend (Chantel Janzen). Meanwhile, Aaliyah's fiancée Marouan (Mohammed Chaara) is derided by his future father-in-law for opting to join the Dutch Army, and local filmmaker Woulter (Roeland Fernhout) ventures out into the streets with girlfriend Kim (Hadewych Minis) to conduct research for an upcoming movie about the immigrant experience in Denmark. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

In this collection of 16 vignettes designed to pay tribute to slain Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, 17 directors explore such issues as the complicated nature of Western democracy, freedom of expression, and the manner in which countless lives can be changed in the flash of a muzzle. These vignettes stress the importance of open debate, explore the profound effect that racism can have on youth, and pick up where van Gogh left off by exploring the effects of Islamic doctrine on the female gender. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

The real-life murder of an idiosyncratic Dutch politician inspired this docudrama, which imagines a possible scenario behind the killing. Jim De Booy (Thijs Römer) is a new photographer who is on assignment, taking pictures of a popular television actress during an appearance at a radio station, when Pim Fortuyn, a controversial right-wing political figure, is shot to death shortly after finishing an interview at the same studio. When Jim develops the pictures, he discovers he accidentally caught the assassin on film, and he begins investigating the crime. Jim finds an ally in his research in Ayse (Tara Elders), who was once involved with the animal rights group that has claimed responsibility for the killing. However, while most people believe the killing was the irrational act of leftist fanatics, Ayse and her beau, Erdogan (Cahit Olmez), have another take to tell -- it seems members of the Dutch intelligence community had infiltrated the group and were pressuring the animal rights activists to attack Fortuyn. Could this have had anything to do with Fortuyn's opposition to a bill that would finance the purchase of a new fleet of fighter jets backed by powerful American business interests? 06/05: The Sixth of May was the final feature film for writer and director Theo Van Gogh. In a strange coincidence, Van Gogh was shot to death (as well as stabbed) in the fall of 2004 by a Muslim extremist who was offended by a film he made for television about the treatment of women in the Islamic community. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The third installment of screenwriter Peter Greenaway's anticipated 16-episode story finds Tulse Luper, the protagonist, whittling away his time in jail. (In the previous episode, Tulse had been arrested in a bathroom just prior to the German invasion of Belgium in 1940.) Without the company of either of his two lovers, Tulse's favorite activity is posting fictional accounts on his wall in hopes of foretelling his own future, thus cementing his status around prison as a top storyteller. Unfortunately for Tulse, his jailers are less concerned with his innocence than they are with using him for their own nefarious purposes, and do their best to fabricate evidence that Tulse is, in fact, a fascist sympathizer. The cast includes JJ Feild, Drew Mulligan, Debbie Harry, Isabella Rossellini, and Jack Wouterse. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Sara is an imaginative little girl who lives with her mother and her grandfather. Though happy enough, she dreams of reuniting her mother with her seldom-seen father, a national chess champion. When one of her school chums introduces her to the world of chess, she begins to spin an elaborate scenario involving the Queen. Tired of the laziness of her King, the Queen decides to vigorously attack her rivals. With elements to please both children and adults, this Dutch comedy drama follows the exploits of Sara and her Queen as they work to bring her estranged parents back together. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A dysfunctional Dutch family is examined in this black comedy, set inside an enormous book-filled home in southern Amsterdam during the '50s. It is based on a Belgian novel. Within the house dwells an overbearing mother, her son Charles, a bookworm, and her daughter, Gina, a sexually ambivalent young woman. Their cousin Jozef stays with them. An aspiring writer with a taste for girlie-mags, Jozef spends most of his time in his room trying to think up a plot for his novel. He is inspired after learning that cousin Charles has become involved with the glamorous fluff-head next door. She is a murder suspect. When his mother learns of the relationship she becomes enraged and throws the woman's dog through a window. Meanwhile, Gina announces that she is a lesbian. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Sharp and witty repartee enliven what otherwise might seem to be simply another painful exploration of dysfunctional relationships in this drama, based on a 1950s novel by Belgian writer Lucie Veldhuyzen-marchal. In the story, Jozef (Stefan de Walle) is a boarder in a family house in the south of Amsterdam (where the city's famous canals are a less common feature of the cityscape). He is a writer who is desperately seeking inspiration wherever he can find it. In his case, the family he is staying with is a gold mine of wonderful source material, from the secretive daughter (Ariane Schluter), to the reclusive, book-loving son (Jack Wouterse), to the overwhelming matron and mother who thinks she rules over the whole menage (Ineke Veenhoven). Things get really interesting for Jozef when Charles, the son, starts seeing the woman who lives across the street, a dizzy dame (Kathenka Woudenberg) who for some reason everybody suspects of being a murderess. As the story emerges, it begins to appear that it is really an enactment of the fevered imaginings of the writer, rather than something that is actually happening. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

If Angie (Annemarie Rottgering) has been in trouble with the law, it's no big deal to her, since everyone she knows has been in similar straits at one time or another. She has just gotten out of a juvenile offenders home, and is trying to settle in with her mother and her mother's new boyfriend, but when he tries to rape her, she heads for the home of her older brother Alex (Daniel Boissevain). He has been earning his living by stealing cars. While there, Angie makes friends with a waiter (Hidde Schols) who has some serious markers out with the mob for his gambling. Angie, her brother and her new boyfriend commit a robbery and then must go on the run from both the police and the mob. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

It seems that misdeeds by inhabitants of the Dutch provinces make for believable stories, whether they are mysteries by Willem van de Wettering, or psychological thrillers by Simon Vestdijk, who wrote the book this film is based on. In the story, set in the 1950s, Hendrik Grond (Gijs Scholten van Aschat) has a good law practice, and a happy marriage which has produced a son. He is so contented that his world is completely shattered when, undetected, he catches his wife in bed with his law firm's senior partner. In fact, he has become quietly unhinged, and he arranges a series of "accidents" to ensure his revenge - becoming involved in the local underworld in the process. Will he succeed in committing a series of "perfect" crimes, or will the police inspector (Johan Simons) investigating these incidents get wise? ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide