Shades (1999)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Erik Van Looy

Writers:

Paul Breuls (writer)
Guy Lee Thys (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 October 1999 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Plot:

Shades is a film about (imaginary) Belgian serial killer Freddy Lebecq which producer Max Vogel, a former lawyer...

Plot Keywords:

Based On Novel | Independent Film

Cast

Mickey Rourke	...	Paul S. Sullivan
Gene Bervoets	...	Max Vogel
Andrew Howard	...	Dylan Cole
Mireille Leveque	...	Michelle Miller
Jan Decleir	...	Freddy Lebecq
Mike Verdrengh	...	Harry Koning
Hilde Van Mieghem	...	Cathy
Tom Van Bauwel	...	Mark Vandenbroeck
Rudolph Segers	...	Crazy Mike (as Rudolf Segers)
Koen De Bouw	...	Bob
Luk D'Heu	...	Van Riet
Filip Peeters	...	Weber
Sally-Jane Van Hoorenbeeck	...	Lily
Gert Lahousse	...	Peter
Tine Reymer	...	Bianca

Runtime:

Netherlands:93 min

Country:

Belgium

Language:

Dutch | English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Amerikaans Theater (VRT), Brussels, Belgium

Company:

Corsan Productions N.V.

Trivia:

Director Erik Van Looy is an avid RAFC supporter (a club in Belgian second division) and he likes to mention this in interviews and put tiny references in his movies (in "De Zaak Alzheimer" for example he made Gene Bervoets whistle the club anthem). In Shades you hear an announcement over the car radio saying the first (new) derby between RAFC and rival club Germinal Beerschot ended 3-0. Wishful thinking on the part of Van Looy as it turned out, because the game (played in 2000) ended 1-2.

Movie Connections:

References Marathon Man (1976)

This movie is one big 'inside joke' about the Belgian Movie Industry

I liked this movie very much. Erik Van Looy is a good director. Proof is his other movie Ad Fundum. Shades is a very special movie. You must be familar with the (Belgian) movie industry to understand most of the story. In my opinion this movie is a biography of the Belgian director/screenplaywriter Guy Lee Thys and guess what ? He's also one of the 3 screenplaywriters of Shades :-) Coincidence or....???? I had alot of fun with this movie because I recognize alot of facts and urban legends about the Belgian Movie industry in it. If you never been 'an insider' in the Belgian Movie industry you'll find this movie a bit boring maybe altrough there're some great actors in it who play very nice like Mike Verdrengh and Gene Bervoets. Mickey Rourke is okay but I saw better movies of him. It's worth a try, but don't expect an easy movie. It's a special movie and that's why some people call it a bad movie, but I do not agree with that. Not the best Belgian movie ever made, but certainly not the worst movie either. That credit goes to 'De leeuw van Vlaanderen' but that's another story.