Margo Dames Movies
- 2000
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rijk de Gooyer, Margo Dames, (more)
- 1996
In this Dutch drama, the alcoholic tendencies of an up-and-coming young lawyer get him into a situation where he must make a decision that could make or break his career. It is a sensitive time for Ernst Quispel. At home, he is having trouble with his wife and his father, who is pressuring him to join the family law firm. His drinking is also getting progressively heavier and one night, while particularly drunk, he is arrested along with a group of violent skinheads. While locked up, one of the youths dies and Ernst watches while the police deftly sweep the matter under the carpet. The dilemma comes up when Ernst is forced to decide whether or not to testify in the court inquest demanded by the dead boy's parents. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A strong-willed Dutch woman recalls her life in this uplifting picture that won the 1996 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Antonia (Willeke van Ammelrooy) is an elderly woman who wakes up one morning and realizes that this is the last day of her life. She begins to tell her story in flashback, beginning with her arrival home to the family farm after World War II with her daughter, Danielle (Els Dottermans). For the next fifty years, a variety of colorful characters come and go on the farm. Danielle becomes a painter, and decides she wants a child but no husband, so Antonia arranges the proper donation. Danielle giving birth to Therese (Veerle van Overloop), who laters has her own child, Sarah (Thyrza Ravesteijn), also without virtue of a husband. Antonia and her descendants come to symbolize the freedom of independent females, with little need for men in their lives. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Willeke van Ammelrooy, Jan Decleir, (more)
