Camping Cosmos (1996)

Director:

Jan Bucquoy

Writer:

Jan Bucquoy

Release Date:

19 June 1996 (Belgium)

Genre:

Comedy | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

Un film intelligent, subtil et belge.

Plot:

On a Belgian beach at Camping Cosmos. The delegate send by the Ministry is confronted with sex and murder. The residents enjoy their holidays in a peculiar way...

Plot Keywords:

Beauty Contest | Belgian | Sexual | Cultural | Boxing Match

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Jean-Henri Compère	...	Jan Bucquoy - l'animateur culturel duCamping Cosmos
Fanny Hanciaux	...	Eve Bucquoy - la fille de Jan
Lolo Ferrari	...	Mme Vandeputte -la plantureuse épouse du gestionnaire du Camping Cosmos
Jean-Paul Dermont	...	M. Vandeputte - le gestionnaire du Camping Cosmos
Noe Francq	...	Noé Vandeputte - le fils du gestionnaire du Camping Cosmos (as Noé Francq)
Claude Semal	...	Claude Semal dit Tintin - l'animateur de la radio du Camping Cosmos
Noël Godin	...	Pierre Mertens - le célèbre écrivain entarté lors de son passage à la radio
Jacques Calonne	...	Jacques Calonne - le délégué du ministère de la culture
Arno	...	Arno (as Arno Hintjens Hintjens)
Herman Brusselmans	...	Herman - un peintre autiste
Jan Decleir	...	L'ami d'Arno
Patricia Dollez	...	Mme Janssens
Sabrina Leurquin	...	Ulrique, la terroriste
Catherine Claeys	...	Giselle Crapaud - la femme du marchand de frites
Isabelle Legros	...	Isabelle Legros- la comédienne
Angelo Bison	...	M. Crapaud - le marchand de frites
Freddy De Kerpel	...	Le premier boxeur
Jean-Pierre Coopman	...	Le second boxeur
Marcel Vanthilt	...	L'arbitre du match de boxe
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charlotte Becker	...	La petite fille
Laurence Bibot	...	Bernadette Legros - la fille engrossée par Vandeputte
Patrick Brull	...	le premier acteur de Karl Valentin
Jan Bucquoy	...	Zbigniew Cibulsky - un terroriste
Roberto Buscemi	...	Pirana
Adriano Cominotto	...	Le pianiste
Serge Crémer	...	Le curé
Janik Daniels	...	le second acteur de Karl Valentin
Maryline Darimont	...	La femme au fouet
Ingeborg De Blende	...	La chanteuse
Antje de Boeck	...	La copine fugueuse
Renaldo Deman	...	Le jockey
Jacques Druaux	...	Le facteur
Marleen Duelz	...	Marlène Mertens
André Frydman	...	Le vieil Italien
Sandrine Laroche	...	Marianne
Georgette Stulens	...	La vieille
Sylvie Van Hiel
André Vermeulen	...	Le vieux
Gaëtan Wolf	...	Willie Crapaud
Elefterios Zakaropoulos	...	Le jeune Italien

Directed by
Jan Bucquoy

Writing credits
Jan Bucquoy

Produced by
Jan Bucquoy	....	producer
Françoise Hoste	....	executive producer
Francis de Smet	....	supervising producer
Johan J. Vincent	....	associate producer

Cinematography by
Michel Baudour

Film Editing by
Matyas Veress

Art Direction by
Nathalie André
Nicole Lenoir

Costume Design by
Sabina Kumeling
Claudine Tychon

Makeup Department
Françoise Pinzani	....	makeup artist
Marianne Roose	....	makeup artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jacques Decrop	....	assistant director
Valérie Jacquemin	....	assistant director
Peter Van Oostende	....	assistant director

Art Department
Jean-Philippe Vidon	....	storyboard artist

Sound Department
Jean-Gregoire Mekhitarian	....	sound recordist (as Jean-Grégoire Mekhitarian)
Régis Muller	....	boom operator
Franco Piscopo	....	sound re-recording mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Michel Baudour	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Laora Bardos-Feltoronyi	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Francis de Smet	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Laora Bardos-Feltoronyi	....	script supervisor
Patricia Clément	....	press attache: France

Production Companies

• Transatlantic Films
• Vlaamse Film Commissie (support)

Distributors

• Brussels Avenue (1996) (worldwide) (theatrical)
• Polygram (1996) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Allstar Film
• Boomerang (2005) (France) (DVD)
• Cinerives
• De Smet Films
• Metrocine
• Mongrel Media (Canada)
• RTV Slovenija
• Telewizja Polska (TVP)
• Willmar Andersson AB (Scandinavia)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

88 min | France:80 min

Country:

Belgium

Language:

French | Dutch

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

UK:18 | France:U

Filming Locations:

Hippodrome Wellington, Ostend, Flanders, Belgium

Company:

Transatlantic Films

Trivia:

Ten lifesize dolls of Lolo Ferrari were made in five different colors and were put at the entrances of theatres. Eight of the dolls were sold to friends and the two remaining are still in hands of the producer. They are in his living room because they caused too much trouble in the office.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Dark Side of Porn: Death of a Porn Star (#1.4)" (2005)

Belgian artist

Apology of bad Belgian taste

This movie is in the tradition of Belgian Surrealism: Marcel Broothaerdts, Marcel Marien... but there was never a Belgian Surrealist long feature movie. So there it is now.

Camping Cosmos develops around the items: Beer, Football and Revolution. Behind, there is the strange story of the daughter of the cultural animator who returns at the campsite where her beloved father is after she was kidnapped in Italy. One does not always know where one should find himself in this patchwork of beauty contests and song contests. The pie throwing of Pierre Mertens is a story in itself too. I believe that the author wanted to give an impression of Belgian working class families on a holiday camp. There is no culture, only sport and entertainment.

Everybody looks discouraged because of their interrupted sex life that cannot take ground in this unnatural surroundings with its deprived individuals at the edge of society.

The camp site is manned by fascinating individualistic persons who live a life without adventure. There is no hope for a better life on this Belgian beach which has everything of a nudist camp without the flair and the passion of a normal sex life.

So this second part of the "Sexual Life of the Belgians" is not only a statement of the lack of cultural life in this vacation circumstances, but also of the sentimental emptiness of the common Belgians at retirement.