The most daring stylistic flourish in Esther Rots’ forensically first-person, raw-nerve drama seems at first like a mistake. Over crisp images of a happy Dutch family — bearded Dad, his pregnant, laughing wife and their blond, tousle-haired daughter driving around in a well-kitted-out camper van — a baritone sings a comic operetta, in English, about bathrobes, kitchen counters and home juicers. “In this neat and tidy little liiiife … she is a neat and tidy little wiiiife,” he booms to jaunty, parping tubas and pompous, martial percussion. The absurd, baroque stylings of Dan Geesin’s compositions are so incongruous with the pictures, it seems possible it’s the sound leaking in from the screen next door.
But while we never quite get over this dislocating effect — nor are we ever sure how closely we should be parsing the lyrics for clues to our protagonist’s state of mind — we’re not supposed to:...
But while we never quite get over this dislocating effect — nor are we ever sure how closely we should be parsing the lyrics for clues to our protagonist’s state of mind — we’re not supposed to:...
- 2/13/2019
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
Titles include Colombian jungle thriller ‘Monos’.
Adventurous young Dutch distribution outfit Gusto is adding to its slate and has snapped up rights to Alejandro Landes’ Colombian jungle thriller Monos, fresh from its Sundance and Berlinale screenings.
Amsterdam-based Lemming Film was the Dutch partner on the film, which was presented at Rotterdam’s pitching market, Cinemart, in 2016.
Gusto, formed in Amsterdam by Hein van Joolen and Katrien Remijn just over a year ago, acquired Monos from the producers and the acquisition complements several other new Iffr or Berlinale titles on the company’s slate.
Gusto is on board fast-rising Dutch-Bosnian auteur...
Adventurous young Dutch distribution outfit Gusto is adding to its slate and has snapped up rights to Alejandro Landes’ Colombian jungle thriller Monos, fresh from its Sundance and Berlinale screenings.
Amsterdam-based Lemming Film was the Dutch partner on the film, which was presented at Rotterdam’s pitching market, Cinemart, in 2016.
Gusto, formed in Amsterdam by Hein van Joolen and Katrien Remijn just over a year ago, acquired Monos from the producers and the acquisition complements several other new Iffr or Berlinale titles on the company’s slate.
Gusto is on board fast-rising Dutch-Bosnian auteur...
- 2/12/2019
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
I can’t think of a better term to describe Esther Rots’ Retrospekt than her own: “sensory cinema.” We get a feeling for what this means during the opening scene as Dan Geesin’s score and Bas Kuijlenburg’s boomingly operatic baritone drowns out the action onscreen with English lyrics telling a story of which we’re not yet certain is even worth our attention. We don’t know these characters beyond visible traits: a pregnant woman, her husband, and their young girl packed up in an Rv heading to who knows where. What this marriage of sight and sound conjures within becomes all we really have to decide to invest in this strange puzzle or frantically seek a quick escape. Hopefully you’ll choose the former because the subsequent ride is worth it.
The woman is Mette (Circé Lethem), a domestic abuse counselor who takes her job very seriously...
The woman is Mette (Circé Lethem), a domestic abuse counselor who takes her job very seriously...
- 9/23/2018
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Stars: Geert Van Rampelberg, Ina Geerts, Johan van Assche, Laura Verlinden, Dominique Van Malder, Roel Swanenberg, Kyan Steverlynck, Ingrid De Vos, Michael Vergauwen, Circé Lethem, Brit Van Hoof, Tibo Vandenborre, Stan Puynen, Roy Aernouts, Jan Hammenecker | Written by Carl Joos | Directed by Hans Herbots
Detective Inspector Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg) is an adult man stuck in a childhood nightmare – the unresolved abduction of his older brother Bjorn when they were both under ten. The main suspect, and known paedophile, Ivan Plettinckx (Johan Van Assche) is interviewed by the police but there’s no evidence to convict him at the time. Haunted by memories of seeing him taken and consumed by guilt Cafmeyer has made Plettinckx his life’s work. The appearance of his nemesis in his back garden goading him with his presence coincides with a horrific new crime. A husband and wife are discovered tied to up, beaten,...
Detective Inspector Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg) is an adult man stuck in a childhood nightmare – the unresolved abduction of his older brother Bjorn when they were both under ten. The main suspect, and known paedophile, Ivan Plettinckx (Johan Van Assche) is interviewed by the police but there’s no evidence to convict him at the time. Haunted by memories of seeing him taken and consumed by guilt Cafmeyer has made Plettinckx his life’s work. The appearance of his nemesis in his back garden goading him with his presence coincides with a horrific new crime. A husband and wife are discovered tied to up, beaten,...
- 9/13/2015
- by Stuart Wright
- Nerdly
Stars: Geert Van Rampelberg, Ina Geerts, Johan van Assche, Laura Verlinden, Dominique Van Malder, Roel Swanenberg, Kyan Steverlynck, Ingrid De Vos, Michael Vergauwen, Circé Lethem, Brit Van Hoof, Tibo Vandenborre, Stan Puynen, Roy Aernouts, Jan Hammenecker | Written by Carl Joos | Directed by Hans Herbots
Detective Inspector Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg) is an adult man stuck in a childhood nightmare – the unresolved abduction of his older brother Bjorn when they were both under ten. The main suspect, and known paedophile, Ivan Plettinckx (Johan Van Assche) is interviewed by the police but there’s no evidence to convict him at the time. Haunted by memories of seeing him taken and consumed by guilt Cafmeyer has made Plettinckx his life’s work. The appearance of his nemesis in his back garden goading him with his presence coincides with a horrific new crime. A husband and wife are discovered tied to up, beaten,...
Detective Inspector Nick Cafmeyer (Geert Van Rampelberg) is an adult man stuck in a childhood nightmare – the unresolved abduction of his older brother Bjorn when they were both under ten. The main suspect, and known paedophile, Ivan Plettinckx (Johan Van Assche) is interviewed by the police but there’s no evidence to convict him at the time. Haunted by memories of seeing him taken and consumed by guilt Cafmeyer has made Plettinckx his life’s work. The appearance of his nemesis in his back garden goading him with his presence coincides with a horrific new crime. A husband and wife are discovered tied to up, beaten,...
- 4/3/2015
- by Stuart Wright
- Nerdly
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