I love Dries (2008)

Directed by: Tom Six | 80 minutes | comedy | Actors: Dries Roelvink, Rene de Wit, Rikkie de Wit, Sugar Lee Hooper, Beter Beense, Chiel Montagne, Grad Damen

Yes, of course, ‘I love Dries’. But he is a bit of a sissy. After a successful performance, he lets himself be overpowered without too much hassle by the fat, sweating, eating frikadellen and smoking too many cigarettes, Freek (Rene de Wit), who kidnaps him and locks him in his – yes – caravan. Freek’s wife Teuntje (Rikkie de Wit) is just as repulsive. She looks dirty, eats only fatty food and is so fat that she has to walk with crutches. Freek’s beloved balls were once pierced by a pitchfork and he can no longer father children. That the level is just as clear.

Anyway, the two want children and therefore need seed. And who better to provide that than their idol Dries Roelvink? Of course, the sunbed brown folk singer doesn’t feel like that. Not because he realizes that his offspring would have a very hopeless future in the tokkie-esque environment, but because he does not want to share the bed with such a repulsive woman. It’s really hard to blame him. Calling the film a bit vulgar, or, as the film promotes itself, “outrageously wrong” and “curiously fun” would be a major understatement.

The shit literally hangs on the wall in the toilet of the Freek and Teuntje. Their pug also just poops in the living room and the clothes of the two perverts show more sweat and grease stains than pristine white. That’s not nice wrong, but just nasty. It’s all supposed to be funny, but the easy vulgarity – which literally just drips off the wall here – is anything but. Moreover, the acting qualities transcend any possible hyperbole – with Sugar Lee Hooper’s shameless performance as the low point – and the film looks ugly. The image quality is very similar to a C-movie from the 1970s and editing and camera work seem very random. Of course, a cinematic masterpiece prior to seeing the film is not to be expected, but ‘I Love Dries’ beats everything.

In the film, Dries himself seems more bored and irritated than afraid or impressed by his plight. His worries and problems still have some emotional connection with those of the viewer, because these 80 minutes are by no means easy to get through.