Ate de Jong Movies

As adapted from the novel of the same title by celebrated Dutch belletrist Jan Wolkers (Turkish Delight), the tense and seamy erotic thriller Summer Heat observes the difficulties that befall a photographer when he enters a torrid affair with a young girl on the isle of Texel - a liaison that pulls him into some extremely dangerous and choppy waters. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

The true story of a major breakthrough in intelligence technology created during World War II provides the backdrop for this blend of mystery, romance, and espionage, based on the novel by Robert Harris. Tom Jericho (Dougray Scott) is a gifted mathematician who is working with the British government on the development and maintenance of the Enigma machine, an electronic device that allows Allied intelligence agents to decode scrambled messages sent by Germany military officers. But the emotionally fragile Jericho is buckling under both the pressure of his work and the collapse of his relationship with Claire Romilly (Saffron Burrows), a co-worker with whom he's fallen deeply in love. After suffering a minor breakdown, Jericho is sent on a leave of absence, but when he returns to work, a crisis awaits: it seems the Germans have instituted a new code that the Enigma is not yet able to crack, and Jericho is needed to help unravel Axis communiqués before an important convoy of troops and materiel sets sail. It is also suspected that a German undercover agent has infiltrated the Enigma project, and Wigram (Jeremy Northam) is determined to ferret them out. In the midst of all this, Jericho receives troubling news that Claire has gone missing -- and that a file of German messages waiting to be decoded was found at her home. As Jericho works against the clock to crack the new German code, he forms an initially uneasy alliance with Hester Wallace (Kate Winslet), Claire's roommate and a fellow member of the Enigma project, as they try to discover Claire's whereabouts. Enigma was co-produced by Mick Jagger, who has a keen interest in the history of the real-life Enigma project, and even owns one of the original Enigma decoding machines. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This European drama is adapted from Simone de Beauvioir's novel of the same name. It is set in post WW II France and tells the story of renowned theatrical actress, Regina, a temperamental diva who feels a great hole in her life until she goes on a provincial tour and meets an enigmatic stranger who is too busy looking inward to notice the world around him. Regina becomes obsessed with this man, and learns that he is an amnesiac. She follows him, and eventually they hesitantly begin an affair. Much of the story centers around their resulting conversations about love, life and death. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Phoebe Cates stars in this bizarre comedy that wants to be the kind of stylish comic fable the likes of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice and Pee-wee's Big Adventure but ends up looking like a shabby burlesque about schizophrenia. Cates is Elizabeth, who has recently separated from her philandering husband Charles (Tim Matheson) and moved back home with her harridan mother Polly (Marsha Mason). Back in her old little-girl haunts, she regresses into childhood and recalls her imaginary childhood friend Drop Dead Fred (Rik Mayall), a nasty, ill-tempered sociopath. As a child, Elizabeth created mayhem with her imaginary pal, but Polly locked him up tight in a jack-in-the-box. But now, Elizabeth mistakenly liberates him from the jack-in-the-box, and the newly freed Drop Dead Fred proceeds to wreak more havoc than the Id Monster from Forbidden Planet -- taking vengeance upon all the people who have made Elizabeth miserable -- and then some. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

During the Nazi invasion of Holland, Jewish pacifist Edwin De Vries and resistance leader Jeroen Krabbe react in different ways to the fall of Amsterdam. De Vries tries his best to peacefully coexist with the occupation forces, in hopes of helping his fellow Jews escape. Krabbe prefers the direct approach of guerrilla warfare, killing as many Nazis as possible. Though given fictionalized names, the central characters of Shadow of Victory are based on two real-life figures, theologian Friedrich Weinreb and freedom fighter Gerrit van der Veen. This film was originally distributed in the Netherlands as In de Schaduw van de Overwinning. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This earthy romantic comedy is about a young man living in Amsterdam, enamored of the wife of a violinist and trying to gain her affections. The young man has to learn French in order to obtain a scholarship to go to Paris and study art and is thus living in the house of an old spinster, working for her in exchange for language lessons. Also living in the same house, but in their own apartments, is the violinist and his wife. As the young man's ingenuity focuses on how to seduce the wife, she has her own way of playing upon his feelings -- and between the two, many a ribald scene unfolds -- but not much else, alas. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

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