Leo de Boer Movies

The official Dutch entry for the 2000 Academy Awards, this family drama, directed by Ineke Houtman, is adapted from Guus Kuijer's popular children's book. Little Madelief (Madelief Vereist) is forced to think about her grandparents during her grandmother's funeral. Her grandfather, a stern and forbidding man, tells her not to go to the mysterious hut in his swampy backyard. This is of course exactly what she does, and in the process, Madelief learns that her grandmother was denied all that she loved by her strict husband. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi

The film style of Robert Bresson is the subject of this documentary tribute to the French director and screenwriter, and to his minimalist auteur films about sensitive individuals (or even animals) trying unsuccessfully to survive in a cruel world. Weg Naar Bresson is divided into several segments with specific themes, such as "camera" or "theory," that are illustrated by film clips, and interviews with Bresson himself (a coup), and also with acclaimed directors Andrei Tarkovsky, Louis Malle, and Paul Schrader (who also wrote a book on three directors, including Bresson). The knowledge and experience revealed in each interview, and the examples of the film clips are clear indicators that the 54-minute running time of this documentary is too short, and should have been extended to do full justice to Bresson and his films. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi