Christophe Dirickx Movies

A boy growing up with a family of Flemish slobs learns more than his elders imagined they were capable of teaching in this purposefully rude comedy-drama. Gunther Strobbe (Kenneth Vanbaeden) is thirteen years old and living with his father Marcel (Koen De Graeve), his three uncles (Bert Haelvoet, Johan Heldenbergh and Wouter Hendrickx) and his grandmother (Gilda De Bal). You would think that Gunther has more than enough adult role models in his life, but the Strobbes are not an ordinary family; Marcel works part-time as a letter carrier, though the fact there are several bars on his route makes getting the work done a challenge, while his brothers are booze-addled layabouts who sponge off their mother, who is too sweet to deny them her meager pension. Gunther loves his family, but they often seem more like seedy playmates than authority figures, as the men in the house spend their days gulping down beer and sausage, breaking things, playing rude pranks on others and chasing women, often with hilarious but embarrassing consequences. Years later, Gunther has launched a career as a writer, is married and is expecting a son; suddenly frightened by the new responsibilities that await him, Gunther seeks out Marcel and his brothers for some advice on fatherhood, a subject one might not imagine is one of their strong suits. Directed by Felix van Groeningen, De Helaasheid der Dingen (aka The Misfortunates) was adapted from the novel by Dimitri Verhulst. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Not to be confused with the popular Jennifer Garner television series of the same name, director Jan Verheyen's dark thriller tells the tale of a suicide caught on camera. When Eva (Hilde de Baerdemaeker) and Patti (Veerle Dobbelaere) unwittingly videotape a young girl as she leaps to her death from the window of a nearby building, their shock turns to utter horror when a thief attempts to make off with their camcorder. Though a handsome and mysterious stranger named Dieter (Geert Hunaerts) manages to chase off the would-be thief, Eva and Patti grow increasingly disturbed upon realizing that there may be a connection between the suicide and the seeming chance encounter with Dieter. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This almost mystical Belgian romance centers upon a young man who is unable to utter the three little words his girl friend most wants to hear. Harry is the emotionally damaged young man who boards a streetcar driven by pretty Jeanne. They briefly flirt before he disembarks and heads for an apartment building. There he sees the body of a tenant who has just committed suicide being carted off. Harry immediately talks the aged housekeeper, Denise, into letting him the room. Denise is haunted by the death of her lover who was killed by a bomb at the end of WW II; a chunk of the fatal bomb is enshrined in her living room. Harry gets a job as a dishwasher in a run-down restaurant. Later he learns that Jeanne lives on the same city block. She instigates a romance between them, but finds him emotionally distanced and unable to commit to her. Still, she loves him and patiently draws the terrible story from Harry. When he was quite young, he and his happy family were on vacation. At his insistence, the family stopped at a railroad crossing so he could urinate. Just as he left the car, he told his mother, "I love you." As he emptied his little bladder, a train hit the car and killed his family. Harry blames those three words and hasn't spoken them since the tragedy. To force him to say "I love you" again, Jeanne enlists the aide of Denise. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide