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W?: A Summer Odyssey in Four Parts / Wir - der Sommer, als wir unsere Röcke hoben und die Welt gegen die Wand fuhr
Belgium / Netherlands 2018
produced by Julius Ponten, Rene Eller for Pragma Pictures, A Team Productions, BNN-VARA, New Amsterdam Film Company, Umedia
directed by Rene Eller
starring Aimé Claeys, Tijmen Govaerts, Pauline Casteleyn, Maxime Jacobs, Friso van der Werf, Folkert Verdoorn, Laura Drosopoulos, Salomé van Grunsven, Lieselot Siddiki, Gaia Sofia Cozijn, Tom Van Bauwel, Gert Portael, Pieter Embrechts, Barbara Sarafian, Michael Pas, Christine van Stralen, Joke Devynck, Vincent Van Sande, Karlijn Sileghem, Axel Daeseleire, Gonny Gaakeer, Mattijn Hartemink, Dominique Van Malder, Steven van Watermeulen, Wouter Bruneel, Olivier De Smet, Maarten Bosmans, Jenne Decleir (voice), Lien Wildemeersch, Hilde Wils, Emma Van Horenbeeck
screenplay by Rene Eller, based on the novel by Elvis Peeters, music by Colin Stetson
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
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It's summer, and 4 girls and 4 boys in their late teens - Thomas (Aimé
Claeys), Simon (Tijmen Govaerts), Liesl (Pauline Casteleyn), Ruth (Maxime
Jacobs), Jens (Friso van der Werf), Karl (Folkert Verdoorn), Ena (Laura
Dosopoulos) and Femke (Salomén van Grunsven) -, are left with too much
time on their own and too little to do, so hanging out together they start
to do all sorts of crazy stuff, which of course includes alcohol, sex and
drugs. After a while they figure they can make some money shooting porn
for the internet, and as that goes really well, and they girls seem to
enjoy promiscuity, the guys soon figure they might as well make them
prostitutes and then by the by blackmail their clients. Again, that goes
well for a while, but then Femke dies a tragic death (the nature of which
is only revealed late in the movie), and that drives a rift into the
group, and some pull out - but not Thomas, their sort-of leader, who even
recruits two new girls (Lieselot Siddiki, Gaia Sofia Cozijn) as
replacement for Femke. But of course, this way he only accelerates the
story's trajectory towards tragedy ... Now I have to admit, the
premise of the plot sounds like something straight out of a German
Schoolgirl Report movie from the 1970s (and indeed, schoolboys turning
their willing classmates into prostitutes was the plot one of the segments of
Schoolgirl
Report Part 4: What Drives Parents to Despair), but this film is
anything but, as it really dives into its characters, tries to portray
their lives in a realistic way, and (despite some flirts with hardcore
porn) really uses nudity only when narratively necessary, instead
concentrates on the story. But probably the most fascinating thing about
this film is how it tells its story, as it doesn't do in a strictly linear
way but tells the same basic plot en suite from 4 different perspectives,
which each respective narration only telling part of the tale, and much
becomes clear only with the last go, Thomas's, the most ruthless of the
gang, but also the one who (as it turns out) has the most urgent agenda
and who's responsible for the film's surprise twist. Well worth a look
for sure!
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