Belgische films
List activity
303 views
• 1 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
182 titles
- DirectorRoland VerhavertStarsPetra LaseurJulien SchoenaertsSenne RouffaerDuty and uncertainty take a toll on two sailors working a cargo ship with an unknown mission and date of departure.
- DirectorFons RademakersStarsWilleke van AmmelrooyJan DecleirCarlos van LanckereThe story of a small and conservative West-Flemish village opposing the construction of a bridge over the Scheldt.
- DirectorHarry KümelStarsOrson WellesSusan HampshireMichel BouquetA young sailor finds himself trapped in the labyrinthine mansion of his occultist uncle, along with a number of eccentric and mysterious relatives who all seem to be harboring a dark secret.
- DirectorRoland VerhavertStarsJan DecleirAnsje BeentjesGaston VandermeulenIn 1833, when the fledgling Belgian kingdom still fears a Dutch invasion, recruits were selected annually from an age cohort by a draw of lots in each locality. In this grim, then contemporary drama by the 'father of Flemish literature', Hendrik Conscience, Jan Braems, a poor and naive farmers-boy, accepts the not uncommon offer by a rich family to sell his lucky ticket (out) to their son for a hefty sum compared to the miserable labor wages at the time. Army life is even harsher then a farmhand's, especially for a Dutch-speaking an-alphabet who simply can't understand his francophone superiors, and Jan's nature is not complacent enough for military discipline even by todays standards, so he soon gets into all kinds of trouble, including gambling his capital away and a venereal disease. When his girlfriend back home goes looking for him, her life is doomed as well.
- DirectorRoland VerhavertStarsEddie BrugmanJacqueline RommertsSylvia de LeurIn this film version of the Dutch-language classic ('heimat'-)novel by Flemish author Felix Timmermans, the title character is a city-boy from Lier who after recovering from a life-threatening disease changes his life completely and his name to the self-invented Pallieter (the Dutch language has adopted this as a noun for a "bon vivant"). He moves in with Charlote, a naive, caring relative in the country, where he starts frolicking, no longer caring for image, career or possessions, but concentrates on enjoying life -such as a draftee relative's Brueghelian wedding- and finds love with Marieke. A dark story-line however is when projected work on the river in the name of economical progress threatens the rural landscape they have fallen in love with.
- DirectorRalf BoumansStarsIse ArnouldMark BessonMarc BoberFred, a 28-year-old bachelor from a quiet village in the Ardennes, is forester and grave digger. He is in love with Isabel but she has always loved their childhood friend Peter. Then Peter returns after a failed marriage.
- DirectorPatrick Le BonStarsJos VerbistPaul S'JongersAn NelissenSam starts his first week as a helper at a brickyard. He got this job because his new boss is the chairman of the local football team for which he plays. He's a talented goalkeeper. There is much resemblance between Sam and Louis, a 65-year-old who is pottering through the last days before his retirement. They both react strongly to the illegal dumping practices of a firm from the city. But also their boss' hands do not seem to be entirely clean in this business. Will Sam sink into the rut and routine that Louis is rebelling against?
- DirectorHugo ClausStarsFrank AendenboomKitty CourboisHerbert FlackGeorges, a workman in his forties, get unexpected released from jail after being imprisoned for two years for having passed a sexual relation with his daughter. Once arrived home, he encountered himself in a difficult situation: Meanwhile him being in imprisoned, his wife started a love affair with his best friend, and more, she has gotten a child from him. Georges is prepared to forgive his wife, as a compensation for the crime committed with their daughter, and under the condition that she comes back to live with him. In this complex and emotional loaded situation, Georges and his wife are trying to find back peace of mind and to go on with their lives.
- DirectorRobbe De HertStarsEric ClerckxBlanka HeirmanWilly VandermeulenA mischievous farmhand's son drives his family, teachers, employer, and neighbors to despair with his unruly behavior and pranks in a time when harsh punishment for disobedience was common.
- DirectorRoland VerhavertStarsIdwig StéphaneMagda LesageChris BoniHugues cannot get over the untimely death of his wife Blanche, who made him happy for ten years. He lives alone in his house in Bruges, a city he would like to be dead like his wife. The sorrowful widower has transformed the place he lives in into a shrine dedicated to his beloved wife. One day, he meets Jeanne, a ballet dancer, who looks like Blanche.
- DirectorPatrick Le BonStarsMarc JanssenHerbert FlackGerda LindekensAn undercover inspector of the Antwerp criminal investigation unit faces problems not only in his professional life, but also at home. When he is partnered with a young, over-confident colleague, he loses control over the case in hand, a situation that further takes its toll on his marriage. He's forced to ask himself whether his job is an addiction, a hunt for people that becomes more exciting the shrewder his opponent is.
- DirectorJan GruyaertStarsVic MoeremansRene Van SambeekMarc PeetersIn a part of Flanders where flax is the main crop, farmer Vermeulen rules his estate like an 'old school' patriarch, stern and authoritarian, nobody else's word is ever taken seriously, just scolded fools, he rather risks being wrong then considering any advice. His marriage is based on a grim understanding: the wife Barbele accepts his heartless manner with everyone, even their studious, smart, healthy, studly son and heir Louis, but his two silly sisters are spoiled with a pointless fancy nunnery boarding school education fit for the upper classes. Farm-life is hard enough, laboring without machines or reliable weather, but this year the stubborn master made it even worse by picking the riskier, badly drained field and sowing later then his neighbors, even when luck turns he'll fetch a lower price for it. Poor practically perfect Louis is granted neither praise, respect nor any pleasure, however hard and well he slaves, obedient like the hired farmhands although well-read. Even being seen innocently frolicking with the milkmaid Honorine 'Schellebelle' earns him not just another public scolding -everbody is used to those all the time-, father, who has an absurd paranoia ma secretly plots with Louis to 'push him aside', decides it's time to marry the 'boy' off, telling ma to find him a 'suitable' bride without even telling their son, and scrapes together their life savings to buy a retiring neighbor's estate for the still non-existing couple. While pa is off to the auction, Louis takes it on himself to order finishing the urgent harvesting, but when the old tyrant sees this unauthorized initiative, already celebrating in the customary way, his abominably unforgiving arrogance drives him to commit an utterly unforgivable crime...
- DirectorHugo ClausStarsFrank AendenboomTheu BoermansJan DecleirA tale centered on the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302 where the Flemish rank and file won a major victory over the glorious French knights.
- DirectorRobbe De HertStarsGaston BerghmansLeo MartinYvonne VerbeeckGaston grew up on the edge of society and avoids people. Leo is a good man living beyond his means. Fate drives them together.
- DirectorMarc DiddenStarsBrad DourifDominique DeruddereIngrid De VosWhile traveling through Belgium, an American named Martin befriends a waiter named Willy when he saves Willy from a fight with a customer. They get drunk together and Martin invites Willy to come to Istanbul with him since he needs to be there next week for "business". Willy agrees and they begin hitchhiking. A woman picks them up and brings them to a hotel. Martin becomes upset claiming that he can't sleep in hotels because "they smell". The woman asks, "Who said anything about sleeping?" Cut to the woman and Willy having sex while Martin listens with great discomfort from the bathroom. He begins rocking back and forth moaning in obvious physical pain. After the woman has left and paid for the hotel room, Willy and Martin go to a street festival. They pass a marching man with a drum who they have passed on the road before. During the festival, after jumping onstage and grabbing a guitar, Martin sings "Movin' With the Wind" for the enthusiastic crowd. Afterwards a self-claimed Airforce pilot offers to buy them a drink. While discussing Istanbul, Willy asks Martin what sort of business he has there. Martin harshly dismisses him. As Willy walks away, the Airforce Pilot implies to Martin that he is interested in fooling around with Willy. Martin lies and says that Willy would reciprocate. When the pilot approaches Willy, Willy hits him and a bar fight ensues. Martin and Willy hide out in an apartment and Martin suggests they play "Truth", where one of them asks a question and the other must tell the truth. Willy asks why Martin wants to go to Istanbul. Martin tells him that he killed someone in London and is going to Istanbul to see that person's family. While Martin is in the bathroom, Willy goes through his wallet and finds a newspaper clipping detailing the murder of a young girl in London. Willy and Martin are hitchhiking along the highway the next day. Again, they pass the marching man with the drum. A friendly, Belgian mechanic picks them up. He lets them stay with him at his junkyard. While they eat, he tells Willy about his wife. She and he had a child named Corinne but his wife ran off with an Italian and took Corinne with her. He wants his child back, but since his wife told the court that he hit her in front of the child, the courts won't allow him to his Corinne until after the divorce. Later, unable to speak Dutch, Martin asks Willy what the mechanic said. Willy tells him and suggests they offer to kidnap Corinne for a fee. Then they can use the money to get to Istanbul. The mechanic brings up this subject himself the next day and gives them traveling money. He will bring the rest when he meets them to collect his daughter. When Willy and Martin arrive in the mechanic's ex-wife's shop they see Corinne. They order food but ask for it to be wrapped up, promptly throwing it out after they leave. The marching man with the drum is stopped by a news crew who want to do a story about his road travels. They tell him it will air at 7 pm that evening. The next day Willy is having second thoughts about the kidnapping but Martin convinces him to go through with it. Martin attacks the mother, throwing her into a closet and barricading the door shut. Meanwhile, Willy runs upstairs and grabs a sleeping Corinne. The three of them hide out in a field. Martin entertains Corinne by singing "Heartbreak Hotel" to her. Willy notices how well-behaved she is and doesn't seem to be afraid of them. The mother is interviewed by the police and she described Willy and Martin's features. Willy and Martin hide out with Corinne in a cabin in the woods. Willy says he needs to leave but will be back in an hour. He goes to a pay phone to call the woman from the hotel to come pick them up. After he's gone, Martin and Corinne make faces at each other. They speak to each other in a made-up language, their faces inches away from each other. On the police scanner, a profile for Martin shows up. It details him as a murderer and child molester. Corinne is crying on the couch while Martin tries to console her. He is in his underwear. He asks if he hurt her and she continues to cry. In his frustration Martin begins to yell at her and slams himself into the furniture and walls. Willy arrives back at the cabin and hears crashing noises. When he sees Corinne crying on the couch and Martin in his underwear, he attacks Martin punching him into submission. The police arrive at the mechanics junk yard and ask him what he knows about his daughter's kidnapping. He says he only knows what was said in the radio. Martin cries on the floor and confesses that he doesn't seek the children out, they just come to him. Willy urges him to stay away from parks and buses, but Martin insists that no matter how hard he tries, he can't be "normal". The marching man is watching his story on the news when a newscaster announces the kidnapping of Corinne and shows the drawings of Willy and Martin. She urges anyone with information to call the police. The marching man gets up to go to the phone. Willy and Martin arrives with Corinne at the terminal to meet her father. The woman hotel waits in her car outside. Martin tells Willy about how beautiful Istanbul is and how friendly the people are. He talks about a wonderful fish restaurant that serves the best meals and promises Willy they will go there to celebrate. Willy asks Martin to finally tell him why he wants to go to Istanbul. Martin breaks down and confesses that Turkey has the most dirty, horrible prisons in the world, and he's going to turn himself in there because he deserves to suffer. Willy is horrified. Corinne's dad shows up to collect her and warns Willy and Martin that the police have followed him there. Unable to understand Belgian, Martin asks Willy what he said. Willy lies and tells Martin he has to go to the bathroom. He disappears just as the police arrive to arrest Martin. As he is being carried away, Corinne runs up to Martin and kisses him on the cheek. A broken Martin cries and struggles to break free but to no avail. Later, relaxing on a balcony with the woman from the hotel, Willy reads the paper. There's an article detailing Martin's arrest and his incarceration in a Belgian prison.
- DirectorBobby EerhartStarsHidde MaasJack MonkauAnnick ChristiaensAn isolated farmhouse is chosen as a hide-out by criminals Jim and Charlie after an armed robbery. The Deleye family are forced to accept the situation under Jim's brutal domination.
- DirectorPatrick Le BonStarsGaston BerghmansLeo MartinJan Van DykeGaston and Leo are members of the motorized police. They are both not very clever and after yet another bungle, they are forced to conduct foot patrols. Meanwhile, a mysterious villain is kidnapping women. Gaston and Leo try to apprehend the criminal by themselves to prove the commissioner that they can do more than create panic. But the duo's wives don't make it easy on them.
- DirectorDominique DeruddereStarsJosse De PauwGeert HunaertsMichael PasThree 'Bukowskian' torrid nights in the life of a man in search of love. Harry, 12, is young and naive. Love, for him, is romantic love between princes and princesses demurely kissing each other on the mouth. His father is a hero who kidnapped his mother and married her on a lonely mountain peak - Later on, he'll do the same. But Harry has a lot to learn. He also learns that there are handsome men and ugly ones, that love can be unfair. That one can find comfort in drinking - but above all he learns that man is capable of anything - absolutely anything. - to get his fair share of love.
- DirectorJean-Pierre De DeckerStarsHerbert FlackMark VerstraeteMaya van den Broecke"Semper Vivax" is not just another retirement home. The guests there get their best real-life memories played out for them.
- DirectorStijn ConinxStarsUrbanusSylvia MillecamFrank AendenboomHector had been in the orphanage for 35 years, until his aunt Ella and uncle Achiel pick him up. They want him to work at their bakery. At his new home he also helps training Achiel's son, Jos, who wants to be a cycling champion, and Ella with studying her role in a play.
- DirectorPaul CammermansStarsFrank AendenboomCamilia BlereauChris BoniFlanders' countryside in Belgium's early decades didn't belong to the hard-working farmers, like patriarch Van Paemel, who would rather die then consider any alternative to knowing his place and responding to problems like Animal farm's donkey, toiling even harder till it kills him anyhow. He rules his family expecting similar servitude, but cruel fate sees to it that his gentle son Desiré has a terrible, ill-compensated, never trialled life-long crippling rifle-accident, reducing the good, now unproductive boy to dreaming about emigration to America in never-ending pain, at the idle hands of the hunting party hosted by the baron who owns everything, and takes like his ruling class a very dim view at the demands, spearheaded by the young Socialist party, of the less docile new generation, whose protests are put down violently by gendarmes (paramiltary police)...
- DirectorVincent RouffaerStarsBob Van der VekenJaak Van AsscheTuur De WeertThe movie made after the hit series "De Kollega's" starring the same characters, but rather tragicomic. When November 11, an official holiday (Armistice), falls on a Tuesday, the public service often gets an extra day off on the preceding Monday, but only after a formal ministerial decision, and this time it gets all the way trough the hierarchy to the right office- and then isn't read, so all the colleagues turn up, only to be told they should have stayed at home. It gets worse: works in progress and clumsiness end up blocking the way out both by lift and staircase, so they are stuck on their floor, apparently without a phone, while there's nobody outside who can hear and rescue them. Forced to keep their conversation going, some secrets get unearthed, and it's not a very pretty picture they got of each-other.
- DirectorDominique DeruddereStarsJoe MantegnaOrnella MutiFaye DunawayYoung Arturo Bandini loves his father Svevo, his mother Maria and his brothers.
- DirectorRoland VerhavertStarsRonny WaterschootJef BurmMagda LesageThis Flemish heimat-movie after a novel by Felix Timmermans, the title of which translates as "farmers psalm", is about the at first sight idyllic, but actually tragical life of Wortel, a god-fearing peasant in a pre-war Belgian village, who has a hard time accepting the curate's assurance it's all part of God's grand plan when his loved ones keep coming to terrible harm, and searching solace in the hand-carving of a wooden statue of Christ.