Dominique Deruddere Movies
The Belgian cult filmmaker Dominique Deruddere, best known for the 1987 Bukowski opus Love is a Dog From Hell, helms the jet-black German-language comedy The Wedding Party. The film concerns a wedding at a luxurious, picturesque country inn, that turns utterly nasty thanks to a feud between the groom's obnoxious father, Hermann Walzer (Armin Rohde) and the establishment's resident chef, Franz Berger (Uwe Ochsenknect). Conflict first erupts when Hermann refuses to pay Franz for the banquet; in retaliation, Chef Franz locks up the bride and Hermann's wife as a guaranty. This, in turn, ignites a bloody battle that finds the men ultimately brandishing guns and hand-grenades, and leaving many an unfortunate victim in their wake. Arne Lenk and Lisa Maria Potthoff co-star; DeRuddere co-authored the original script with Jean vanHamme. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Armin Rohde, Uwe Ochsenknecht, (more)
Just how far should a father go to help his daughter gain fame and fortune? Jean (Josse De Pauw) lives in a working-class Belgian community, where he holds down a job at a bottle factory with his friend Willy (Werner De Smedt). Jean and his wife Chantal (Gert Portael) have a teenage daughter, Marva (Eva van der Gucht), who like her father, is interested in music; Jean likes to write songs in his spare time, while Marva dreams of becoming a singer. But Jean's songs don't seem to impress anyone but Willy, and while Marva has a good voice, she's overweight, has little charisma, and seems a poor prospect for success in show business. When the bottle factory is shut down, both Jean and Willy are thrown into dire circumstances, and Jean is trying to figure out how to support his family when his car breaks down in the middle of nowhere. He is offered a ride by a friendly stranger, whom Jean soon recognizes as Debbie (Thekla Reuten), a well-known pop singer. In a flash of ill-advised inspiration, Jean gives Debbie a heavily drugged beverage, and after she passes out, he spirits her away to a cottage in the woods. He then contacts Debbie's manager (Victor Low), informing him that he has the star hidden away -- and if he ever wants to see her again, Marva has to be given a chance to sing on national television. Iedereen Beroemd! was shown in competition at the 2000 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josse de Pauw, Werner De Smedt, (more)
Acclaimed Belgian novelist Jean-Philippe Toussaint drew attention to his directorial talents in 1990 with a remarkable satire on modern life, Monsieur. His third feature, La Patinoire, is about a film director who is shooting a highly symbolic film called 'Dolores' at an ice rink. He has hired a Lithuanian ice hockey team with which he is having enormous communication problems. His actors all have inflated egos, his film crew is made up of fools, and there is a politician on his back. But he must finish the film, no matter what, in time for the Venice Film Festival. A black comedy which is applicable to all absurd situations of life, but particularly those associated with the film industry, La Patinoire is a clever satire from beginning to end, including its title. ~ Gönül Dönmez-Colin, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Tom Novembre, Mireille Perrier, (more)
- 1997
In this Belgian comedy, two brothers are brought together by the death of their mother. In debt to gangsters, crude and aggressive Roger (Dirk Roofthooft) anticipates an inheritance but goes to Plan B after the mother's will indicates she sold her assets. To escape his creditors, he hits the road with his brother Bruno (José de Pauw). The two find curious encounters and surreal misadventures await at each curve in the highway. Shown at the AFI/Los Angeles Film Festival. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dirk Roofthooft, Josse de Pauw, (more)
- 1995
An ego-maniacal, manipulative, man uses a young gigolo to enact the fantasies he is too sick to perform in this thriller set in a hotel penthouse on the French Riviera. Chris is the young Dutch gigolo who preys on wealthy older women at the hotel. Glover the wealthy, wheelchair bound gent who lives in the hotel's top floor suite. Chris, thinking he killed his last customer while haggling for money, bursts into Glover's suite to hide. The old man not only lets Chris stay in the spare room, he also wines, dines, and supplies a series of beautiful call girls to the young man. It is only later that Chris discovers that his "benefactor" is video-taping his sexploits. Appalled, Chris wants to leave. Glover makes him a new offer: he will pay Chris an incredible amount of money to find a beautiful woman and kill her. Chris agrees and chooses Helen, who works in a perfumery. Helen is lucky, figures it out, and thwarts Chris, but when she must deal with Glover, her luck runs out. As the credits roll, the song "Sweet Sixteen" is played. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1990
- PG
Based on the novel by John Fante, this film follows the trials of the Bandini family as they try to struggle through hard times in 1920s Colorado. Out of work and in need of money, Svevo Bandini (Joe Mantegna) tries to scrounge up the money his family needs to make it through the winter, while putting up with his nasty mother-in-law (Renata Vanni), his anxious wife (Ornella Muti), and his two young boys. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Mantegna, Ornella Muti, (more)
- 1987
If you like the title of this Belgian production, you'll love its source, a story by Charles Bukowski titled The Copulating Mermaid of Venice, Calif. Actually the film draws material from three different Bukowski stories to outline three crucial stages in a man's life. The hero begins as a 12-year old naif, "develops" into a miserable pimply adolescent who yearns for the girls who laugh in his face, and "matures" into an alcoholic, drug-addicted bum with a predilection for necrophilia. Amazingly, the material is handled with subtlety and sensitivity--the trick is to get through the film's first painful moments. The episodic nature of Love is a Dog From Hell is due to the fact that the film began as a 30-minute short subject, then was expanded into a feature when a distributor evinced interest. For its grindhouse playoffs, Love is a Dog From Hell was retitled Crazy Love. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Josse de Pauw, Michaël Pas, (more)
