Villa des Roses (2002)

Directed by: Frank van Passel | 120 minutes | drama | Actors: Julie Delpy, Shaun Dingwall, Harriet Walter, Shirley Henderson, Timothy West, Frank Vercruyssen, Toni Barry, Jan Decleir, Dora van der Groen, Albert Delpy, Stéphane Excoffier, Rifka Lodeizen, Halina Reijn, Maya van den Broecke, Gary Whelan , Alfredo Pea, John Dobrynine, Simon Chefnourry, Jean Hayet, Michel Franssen, Michel Jurowicz, Fred Van Kuyk, Phil Kaizer, Chris Anthony, Léo Dherte, Malkiel Golomb, François Brice, Peter van den Eede, Bernard Marbaix, Philippe Vincent, orchestra The New String

Visually beautiful looking film, which falls too short on content to keep you interested for the full two hours; that is the essence of ‘Villa des Roses’. The film is an international co-production, on which subsidies from many European countries were spent and where the Dutch actresses Rifka Lodeizen and Halina Reijn can also be seen in small roles.

The Fleming Alfons de Ridder (better known by his pseudonym Willem Elsschot) made his debut in 1913 with his novel “Villa des Roses”. It is generally regarded as one of his best works, although it is perhaps less well known than “Glues/Het Been”. In an interesting parallel, the debuting director Frank van Passel has taken on the first theatrical film adaptation of “Villa des Roses”. The novel has indeed been adapted twice before: in 1968 as a miniseries and in 1989 as a television film, both times in Belgium, but never before for the silver screen. It has become a fairly successful and faithful reproduction of Elschot’s concise and precise prose. The book was partly an allegory of old Europe, a powder keg of nationalism, militarism, greed and alliances, for which one fuse (the murder of the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary) was enough to set things ablaze. The comparison with the situation just before the First World War is fairly subtly woven into the story, although the opening and closing scenes in the trenches are undeniably striking.

As befits a European co-production, which is based on a book in which characters of different nationalities appear, the film has an international cast: the Frenchwoman Julie Delpy plays the female lead of the also French Louise Créteur, while Englishman Shaun Dingwell plays the German Richard Grünewald. plays. Also English are Harriet Walter and Timothy West as Olive and Hugh, the owners of the Villa des Roses. The Scottish Shirley Henderson plays the maid Ella and the Belgian Jan Decleir has a (unfortunately!) small role as Monsieur Brizard. There are also more Belgians in the cast, supplemented by the aforementioned Dutch actresses, who portray diverse European nationalities such as Norwegian and Hungarian. The acting is good, although the romance between Louise and Richard is sometimes a bit unbelievable portrayed. With character actors such as Decleir, Dora van der Groen and West (who, for example, played Winston Churchill several times), their qualities show in their supporting roles. Henderson (Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films) has a voice that won’t get everyone excited, but that shouldn’t distract from her excellent portrayal of Louise’s fellow maid, roommate and confidante Ella.

Van Passel has a rich eye for detail and is brimming with visual flair. With this he manages to shake up a number of beautiful shots and conjure up original camera angles. Technically speaking, he certainly knows his trade, given the beautiful longshots of the Paris skyline, which are reminiscent of an old-fashioned postcard (for which actual panoramic maps were used as the basis) and the lightning-fast speed of the camera through the tubes that connect the rooms. connect with each other. ‘Villa des Roses’ took home the “Hollywood Discovery Award” for Best Picture at the Hollywood Film Festival. Director Van Passel was nominated for the Joseph Plateau award (most important Belgian film awards) for best director and actresses Walter and Henderson were nominated as best actress at the British Independent Film Festival.