Alias (2002)

Director:

Jan Verheyen

Writers:

Christophe Dirickx (writer)
Paul Koeck (writer)

Release Date:

13 February 2002 (Belgium)

Genre:

Drama | Horror | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Girl falls in love with the wrong boy

Plot:

Eva is an accidental witness of the death of a young girl, even more: she's got it all on tape. Shortly hereafter she encounters Dieter...

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Hilde De Baerdemaeker	...	Eva
Geert Hunaerts	...	Dieter
Veerle Dobbelaere	...	Patti
Hilde Van Mieghem	...	Yvonne
Pol Goossen	...	Albert
Werner De Smedt	...	Mark
Michael Pas	...	Andy
Tom De Hoog	...	Carl
Ilse Van Hoecke	...	Tinne
Mathias Coppens	...	Steven
Els Van Peborgh	...	Laryssa
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Veerle Baetens	...	Girl at car rental
Ron Cornet	...	Security man
Kris Cuppens
Koen De Graeve	...	Rich boat owner
Tuur De Weert	...	Inspector Claeys
Patrick Fakkel	...	Policeman Gent
Rudy Morren	...	Inspector Bert
Peter Thyssen	...	Luc
Alain Van Goethem	...	Real Dieter
Luc Verhoeven	...	Annoying tourist Gent
Karel Vingerhoets	...	Inspector Lefèvre

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

Belgium

Language:

Dutch

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:13 | Belgium:KNT

Filming Locations:

Gent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium

Company:

Another Dimension of an Idea

Not bad for one of 'ours', but just not good enough

If you compare the Belgian and more in particular the Flemish cinema with the French and other European cinema, than you'll see there is a big difference. In the other countries they are much more chauvinistic when it comes to their own movies. Especially in France many people will watch "their" movies rather than Hollywood productions. But perhaps there is also another reason for it. It may also be because in our country they just don't make many movies and when a movie is actually made, most of the time its quality isn't really stunning.

The directors say that they can't help it. They don't have the money to produce a movie like they do in Hollywood. True, most of the movies they have to finance themselves, because the government doesn't give them many subsidies. But don't tell me that money is the only problem. Next to financial problems we also have a lack of talented directors who are able to put our little country on the map of big cinematic countries. I'm afraid Jan Verheyen won't fill up that gap. I'm not saying he's a bad director, he just isn't great as he proves with this movie. It has a cheap and amateurish feeling about it.

The actors didn't do too bad most of the time (except for Hilde Van Mieghem who is so incredibly fake and unnatural that it all becomes laughable), but the script is far from original. It feels like a script that no-one in Hollywood wanted, so Verheyen took it and filmed it over here instead of in America. Too often you can see that the director is a great amateur of cheap horror movies. He uses the same kind of scenes and ideas, which doesn't really do any good to the movie.

I'm not really surprised not many people actually saw this movie. It's worth a watch, but don't expect too much of it. I give it a 6/10. Not bad for one of ours, but just not good enough