Viviane de Muynck Movies
- 2007
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, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ina Geerts, Johanna ter Steege, (more)
- 2007
The trials and tribulations of a widower's golden years are at the center of this bittersweet film from director Geoff Enthoven. Nand Buyl stars as Lucien an elderly man living with his daughter after the death of his wife. When Lucien decides to strike out on his own, he's met with resistence from his daughter, but it's nothing compared to the trepidation that brews when he begins a relationship with a much younger woman. Originally titled Vidange perdue, The Only One had its US premiere at the 2007 Cleveland International Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nand Buyl, Viviane de Muynck, (more)
- 1999
German-based American filmmaker Nora Hoppe directs this grim drama about death, memory, and redemption. Middle-aged Afghan refugee Babak (Behrouz Vossoughi) works menial jobs and lives in a broken-down rooming house in Brussels. One day, he happens upon Sarban (Johan Leysen), an enigmatic stranger who claims that he is looking for his relatives. As the two talk, Babak grows increasingly unnerved by the similarity between their pasts. Slowly, Sarban, who is later revealed to be some sort of supernatural being, begins prodding Babak's memories, first by serving him a dish he has not eaten since he left his homeland and then by forcing him to reveal the bloody, treacherous means through which he managed to come abroad. The Crossing was screened at the 1999 San Sebastian Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Behrouz Vossughi, Johan Leysen, (more)
- 1998
Missing Link is a children's film about a dreamy, inquisitive eleven-year-old boy who decides that it's time to grow up. Rick lives with his mother Lydia in a small town in Netherlands in 1955. Rick's father, a RAF pilot, was shot down in the war. Rick is fascinated with the missing link between humans and primates. When he reads a report in the newspaper that a professor is about to set off for Africa in search of the missing link, he tries to track him down. In his pursuit, he discovers the identity of his father. Missing Link was shown as part of the Children's Film Festival at the 49th International Berlin Film Festival, 1999. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nick van Buiten, Tamar van den Dop, (more)
- 1998
- NR
A strange young man decides to invent for himself the happy and stable life he's never actually had in this Dutch comedy. Kees (Ramsey Nasr) is a gently eccentric loner who takes his imaginary dog for a walk each evening and likes to listen in on his neighbors' conversations. One of the reasons he takes an interest in the lives of other families is that he has little family history of his own; his father is dead, and his mother, no pillar of behavioral stability, destroyed all their family photos in an emotional episode prior to her current stay in a mental hospital. When the chronically unemployed Kees gets a job at a bank, many of his co-workers don't know what to make of him, and scarcely anyone talks to him -- until the day someone comments on a photo in his wallet. Though he doesn't actually know the woman in the picture, Kees tells them the woman in the photo is his girlfriend and starts spinning tales about their "relationship." Before long, Kees has invented an entire alternate personality and is stealing photos from others to fit the new "friends" and "family" he's created. De Man Met De Hond (aka A Man and His Dog) was warmly received in its screenings at the 1999 Rouen Festival of Nordic Film and the Rotterdam Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ramsey Nasr, Viviane de Muynck, (more)
- 1990
Unlike the reclusive J.D. Salinger, who has never allowed any of his stories or novels to be made into movies, this 1947 Dutch novel, which was to the same generation of youngsters growing up in the Netherlands what The Catcher In The Rye was for Americans, was made into a well-appreciated film in 1989. In the story, Fritz van Egters (Thom Hoffman) has already flunked out of college, and is suffering through a boring office job. He still lives at home with his tiresomely doctrinaire communist parents, and has a set of friends who don't do much to excite interest either. The time period of the film is Fritz's Christmas to New Year's holiday break, during which he seeks to find some escape from the tedium of his life. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Thom Hoffman, Rijk de Gooyer, (more)
