De zaak Alzheimer (2003)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Erik Van Looy

Writers:

Jef Geeraerts (novel)
Carl Joos (screenplay)

Release Date:

26 September 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Plot:

Vincke and Verstuyft are the best detectives of the Antwerp police department. They are confronted with the murder on a leading executive and put all their effort to catch the murderer.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Detective | Prostitute | Corpse | Assassin

Awards:

7 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Laurien Van den Broeck	...	Bieke Cuypers
Dirk Roofthooft	...	Vader Cuypers
Koen De Bouw	...	Eric Vincke
Werner De Smedt	...	Freddy Verstuyft
Hilde De Baerdemaeker	...	Linda de Leenheer
Geert Van Rampelberg	...	Tom Coemans
Jan Decleir	...	Angelo Ledda
Patrick Descamps	...	Gilles Resnais
Anne-Caroline Suberville	...	Dienster
Jan Dyck	...	Taxi Driver
Miek Van Bocxtaele	...	Receptionist (as Miek Van Bocxstaele)
Deborah Ostrega	...	Anja
Gene Bervoets	...	Seynaeve
Els Dottermans	...	Eva Van Camp
Lucas van den Eijnde	...	Bob Van Camp

Also Known As:

The Alzheimer Affair (International: English title)
The Alzheimer Case (International: English title)
The Memory of a Killer (USA)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence, sexuality and nudity.

Runtime:

123 min | Belgium:135 min (director's cut)

Country:

Belgium | Netherlands

Language:

Dutch | French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Belgium:KT | Iceland:16 | South Korea:15 | Netherlands:12 | Germany:16 | Sweden:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium

Company:

MMG Film & TV Production

Trivia:

The director (a big RAFC supporter) insisted that actor Gene Bervoets (a Beerschot supporter) whistle the anthem of RAFC in a scene where he's in the car (Beerschot and RAFC are both football clubs in Antwerpen, with 100 years of enmity dividing their fans). Gene Bervoets, however, agreed to do as requested immediately. Since his character is a complete bastard, he thought it quite logical that he would be an RAFC-fan.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The movie is set in 1995. After stepping off the train Ledda takes the escalators down in Antwerp Central station. There weren't any escalators in there at that time.

Quotes:

Angelo Ledda: [about killing Jean de Haeck] I'm sure nobody will miss him. *I* didn't.

Movie Connections:

References Memento (2000)

A professional looking movie from Belgium

Only a handful of Belgian movies haven't given me the feeling that they were produced locally and with a limited budget. This is one of them, not surprisingly because it was done with a larger budget than usual (but still quite small by Hollywood standards). I feel it has everything in place to rival any Hollywood production. The most important asset of the movie however is veteran actor Jan Decleir, a man who was already indirectly nominated a few times for the Oscars via the foreign movies section. Jan Decleir is brilliant and outclasses everyone else on the set (as he often does). The rest of the cast consists of good and not so good actors (some come from terrible Flemish soap series), but somehow everyone seems to rise above him/herself on this occasion and everyone deliver a decent performance. The photography, camera-work, everything's done quite professionally. The difference with many Hollywood action movies is the fact that the plot is quite good. The fact that the main character has Alzheimer's and that he has to use his ever shrinking mental capabilities to finish his quest, is an original twist. People will compare Alzheimer's to Memento, because of the main character's memory loss. But Memento was conceived to challenge viewers, to baffle them, to be perceived as intelligent and artistic. By contrast this movie is more down to Earth, more realistic and in the end simply something completely different. It's nothing more than an original cop-movie, good entertainment and certainly something I'd recommend, even to non Belgian or non-Dutch speaking viewers. Plans are underway for a Hollywood remake of this movie, so it must be other people have recognized its potential too. One word of caution though. Many people say the movie is a bit too long. That's a sentiment I share. At the end the plot loses a bit of its strength. But overall i'd label 'De zaak Alzheimer' a good movie.