Willeke van Ammelrooy
Two people develop an unusual relationship that bends the boundaries of time and place in this romantic fantasy. Kate Forster (Sandra Bullock) is a doctor who lives in a beautiful home by a lake. Forced to move elsewhere, she requests that any correspondence that arrives at the lake house be passed on to her new address. To her surprise, she soon receives a romantic note from Alex Burnham (Keanu Reeves), an architect who lives in the cottage she once called home. However, a look at the postmark on the letter reveals that he lived at the home two years before she did, and that somehow they've come in contact with one another through a space in time. A remake of Lee Hyun-seung's acclaimed Korean romance Il Mare (aka Siworae), The Lake House was the first American production from Argentinean filmmaker Alejandro Agresti; the supporting cast includes Christopher Plummer, Dylan Walsh, and Lynn Collins. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, (more)
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)
- 1990
The title of this slapstick comedy, Koko Flanel, is apparently a takeoff on the famous name of deceased fashion designer Coco Chanel. In the story an odd-looking, dimwitted lad (popular comedian Urbanus) whose previous job experience involves selling bird houses, lands a fifteen-year contract as a model with a top advertising agency. Impeturbable and probably incapable of understanding what's going on anyway, the lad wants to marry the production assistant at the agency who signed him to the contract, so that he can fulfill a deathbed promise to his father to have some children, and behave at least as well as his older brother, a policeman. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Urbanus, Willeke van Ammelrooy, (more)
- 1986
Director Guido Pieters adapted this drama from an original work by the great Dutch playwright Herman Heijermans, which debuted in 1900. Pieters and scriptwriter Karin Loomans begin with the basic story: Kniertje (Kitty Courbois) is a widow who lives in a small fishing village and has lost her husband and two sons to the sea. She is now raising her remaining children alone. One of the prominent citizens in the village is a ship owner by the name of Clemens Bos (Rijk de Gooyer) and in this version, his daughter falls in love with Kniertje's youngest son Barend (Danny de Munk). Barend and his romance with Bos' daughter Mathilde (Willeke van Ammelrooy) move to center stage, transforming Heijermans' play in the process. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kitty Courbois, Danny de Munk, (more)
- 1984
Set in the tough, impoverished year of 1934 in Amsterdam, when people were desperate for jobs and food, this sentimental story is based on a World War II novel by Piet Bakker about a streetwise, lonely kid named Ciske who lives with his harsh and shrewish mother and is raised without affection or gentleness. As directed by Guido Pieters, Ciske (Danny de Munk) has lost the persona of a basically innocent urchin trying to cope and has become a more worldly-wise, modern youngster with a bent toward improvisation. This clash between the sophisticated present and the simpler past continues in other aspects of the filmed story as well, and along with disjunctions in the sequencing of scenes, perhaps due to heavy editing, undermines the charming and accomplished acting of the 14-year-old lead and the young supporting actors. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Danny de Munk, Willeke van Ammelrooy, (more)
- 1983
Black humor dominates in this macabre story about a murderously animated elevator and its repairman Felix (Huub Stapel) and Felix's voluntary new assistant Mieke (Willeke van Ammelrooy), a reporter for a tabloid paper. When the elevator decapitates a security guard and tries to suffocate some party-goers, it becomes obvious that it needs more than a 60,000-mile check-up. After Felix narrows down the possibilities to some experiments his company is doing with microchips, he is coincidentally suspended from his job -- indicating that the elevator is not acting alone. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Huub Stapel, Willeke van Ammelrooy, (more)
- 1982
Maarten (Jeroen Krabbe) is a professor of cell biology who has devoted his life to his studies and teaching, to such an extent that he has never had a relationship with a woman. He lives at home with his invalid mother, and so far, life has been going along in its usual, puritanical, repressed way -- until he has a strange dream. According to the vision in the dream, unless he manages to start a sexual relationship with a woman within seven days, he will not live to see the eighth day. Worried and nagged onward by a persistent alter-ego (Krabbe again), Maarten begins to see the first light of liberation when tragedy strikes and his ailing mother dies. He is sad, but at the same time freed from the shackles she represented. Soon he meets an attractive woman, the seeds of desire are mutually nurtured, and it looks very much like Maarten may gain a jolly good reprieve from the grim reaper. This is director Ate De Jong's first film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeroen Krabbé, Marijke Merckens, (more)
- 1982
On Top of the Whale, one of the best-known films by acclaimed director Raul Ruiz, is an allegorical exploration of language and the conflicts between cultures. The setting is the world of the near future; the film begins in Holland, which, like several other European nations, has become a communist republic. An anthropologist, specializing in the study of primitive tribes, is introduced by his wife to the powerful millionaire Narcisso Cambos. Narcisso invites them to stay at his estate in Patagonia, which he claims is also home to the last two surviving members of an ancient Indian tribe, generally thought extinct. The anthropologist accepts and begins to study the tribesmen -- an inseparable pair named Adam and Eden. He becomes consumed by the mysteries of their culture, their behavior, and especially their language, which appears to consist of only 60 words. Meanwhile, the possible revival of a former relationship between his wife and Narcisso threatens his marriage. Though occasionally punctuated by monochrome cinematography and surrealistic imagery, On Top of the Whale is more linear than much of Ruiz's later work, relying on a sparse directness that gives the film a provocative, fable-like ambiguity. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- 1981
In this Dutch film, Maarten (Jeroen Krabbe) is a thirtysomething biologist who has yet to lose his virginity. When he dreams that he will die if he is unable to sleep with a woman in the next seven days, Maarten and his alter ego set out to save his life. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- 1979
A few notches more vulgar than their American counterparts, Grijpstra (Rijk de Gooyer) and De Gier (Rutger Hauer) are partners in the Amsterdam police force who get involved in the world of prostitution, drugs, and off-the-wall religious cults in this glib crime story from Wim Verstappen. De Gier and Constanze (Willeke Van Ammelrooy) spend some amorous moments together when he is able to escape the seedy demi-monde. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rutger Hauer, Rijk de Gooyer, (more)
- 1978
In a Flemish village, pride and cupidity vie for control, and each of them loses. When the villagers hear that a highway might be built near their village, they perk up -- it could be just the thing for their faltering economy. The current mayor has scotched the easiest route, which would take the road through a bird sanctuary he fought to establish. Instead, a few modest houses will be torn down to make way for the road. This is not acceptable to his political opponent, who pulls out all the stops to oppose him on the road issue, in order to defeat him at the polls during the next election. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Willeke van Ammelrooy
- 1976
Willeke van Ammelrooy stars in this acting tour de force, never leaving the screen for an instant. The movie follows her in her role as an actress who is trying to decide whether or not to accept a certain role. While she is worrying at the problem, she smokes, bathes, dresses, has a tantrum or two, makes phone calls, and cleans her room. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Willeke van Ammelrooy
- 1976
This is the first feature film made entirely in Surinam by a Surinamese director. The story concerns a student returning to the country from the Netherlands (Surinam was a Dutch colony). When he begins a relationship with a girl of Hindu ancestry, both his and the girl's parents are upset. Things are further complicated when his Dutch girlfriend arrives on the scene. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Willeke van Ammelrooy
- 1975
This erotic variation on La Ronde was filmed in the Netherlands. As indicated by the title, the hero has a very healthy sex life. Sometimes he even double-dates. And triple-dates. And quadruple-dates. In short, his conjugal bed threatens collapse. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nelly Frijda
- 1975
A wealthy French couple unable to bear children but determined to start a family agree to use an anonymous surrogate, only to find that their desperation leading to their ultimate downfall in this erotic classic starring Bebe Loncar and Jean-Marie Pallardy (who also directed). Jean-Paul (Pallardy) is a successful engineer with a beautiful young wife (Loncar). Despite the fact that this couple would seem to have it all, the one thing they want most is the very thing that eludes them - a true family. Upon seeking a professional opinion on the matter, the couple is advised to seek out an anonymous surrogate. Though the procedure is a success, Jean-Paul becomes entirely consumed in his quest to discover the identity of the young woman (Willeke van Ammelrooy) who is currently carrying his child. Upon coming face to face with the ravishing young beauty, Jean-Paul initiates a torrid affair that will profoundly affect the lives of all involved. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Beba Loncar, Willeke van Ammelrooy, (more)
- 1974
Alicia is a Dutch housewife who has grown weary of being treated as a mere utilitarian object. She escapes from her family, and has a series of encounters and adventures, some of which are of an erotic nature. Because she is continuing to draw on her joint bank account with her bank-manager husband, he is able to trace her steps, though she eludes his grasp. Eventually, tiring of these adventures, she returns to her home. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1974
In this Dutch romance, the foibles of small-town living are lovingly exploited to bring two parallel love stories to life. The main story concerns a doctor (Jules Croiset) who cannot make headway in wooing the village schoolteacher, Irene (Martine Bijl). He confides his troubles to the village priest (Ward De Ravet) and receives some helpful and timely advice. In a parallel situation, Van Bree (Leen Jongewaard), the town's real-estate developer, must overcome his own and his family's racism as he falls in love with Katja (Willeke Van Ammelrooy), a lovely gypsy lass. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Incest is added to rape and swindling as comprising the qualities of the family in this Dutch film. Two brothers and a mute sister take over an abandoned house near a city and try to persuade a finance company officer to give them a loan to buy the house, using the mute sister's sexual favors as payment. Then their father shows up and explains that the girl is mute because he raped her when she was quite young. One of the brothers, rather than continue to bed his sister, brings a nymphomaniac into the household and from there on, things go downhill for the household. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1974
Dakota is about a pilot who owns an airplane of the same name. Dick (Kees Brusse) takes on odd jobs with the plane, many of them illegal. He accomplishes at least one long-distance flying feat, which astonishes his knowledgeable friends, and suffers from the isolation and loneliness of his solo job. In one scene, he has a nightmare in which one of his employers, a beautiful woman, falls from the plane. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1973
This Dutch drama focuses on the trials and tribulations of a married couple who cannot stand to live together. The husband is an incurable womanizer, and the wife wants a more stable, responsible situation. Nonetheless, they love and care for one another. This film includes a number of explicit sexual situations, including a funeral wake which involves an orgy. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1972
In this Belgian film, love must be its own reward, because other circumstances steadfastly refuse to cooperate. Paul (Roger Van Hool) and Pierre (Andre Van den Heuvel) are homeless vagabonds. Louisa (Willeke Van Ammelrooy) is the rebellious daughter of a nobleman. She encounters and is attracted to both Paul and Pierre, and the loving threesome set up housekeeping in an abandoned farm. The local inhabitants will not tolerate these goings-on and burn them out of the farmhouse. Louisa returns to her family mansion. As long as she says nothing about what went on while she was away, she is welcomed there. As soon as she confides her love for these two men, who are still around, she is booted out. They take off down the road together, only to meet with tragedy in a German poison-gas attack. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
