De zaak Alzheimer (2003)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Erik Van Looy

Writers:

Jef Geeraerts (novel)
Carl Joos (screenplay)
(more)

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
Anaïs Terryn	...	Ine Van Camp
Lone van Roosendaal	...	Henriette Seynaeve
Jo De Meyere	...	Baron Gustave De Haeck
Johan van Assche	...	Van Parys
Roland De Jonghe	...	Paolo Ledda
Katrien Vandendries	...	Nurse
Ludo Hoogmartens	...	Businessman
Bart Slegers	...	Lemmens
Marc Peeters	...	Opdebeeck
Tom Waes	...	Verheyen
Filip Peeters	...	Major De Keyzer
Eddy Vereycken	...	Dr. Abbeloos
Kristine Arras	...	Housekeeper
Vic de Wachter	...	Joseph Vlerick
Tom Van Dyck	...	Jean de Haeck
Babett Manalo	...	Masseuse
Jan Van Looveren	...	Police Motorcyclist
Jappe Claes	...	Prosecutor Bracke
Marc Janssen	...	Chaplain
Peter Borghs	...	Guard
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Cela Yildiz	...	Reporter

Directed by
Erik Van Looy

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Jef Geeraerts		novel
Carl Joos		screenplay
Erik Van Looy		writer

Produced by
Mark De Geest	....	executive producer
Hilde De Laere	....	producer
Erwin Provoost	....	producer
Sjef Scholte	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Stephen Warbeck

Cinematography by
Danny Elsen

Film Editing by
Yoohan Leyssens
Philippe Ravoet

Casting by
Gunter Schmid

Art Direction by
Johan Van Essche

Set Decoration by
Hendrik Van Kets

Costume Design by
Kristin Van Passel

Makeup Department
Esther De Goey	....	key makeup artist
Esther De Goey	....	makeup department head
Gerda van Hoof	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Guy De Lombaert	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eddy Stevesyns	....	first assistant director
Jakob Verbruggen	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Steven Liegeois	....	assistant property master
Chris Lievens	....	constructor
Hendrik Van Kets	....	property master
Jimmy Van Meel	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Geert Engels	....	sound recordist
Peter Flamman	....	sound designer
Peter Flamman	....	sound mixer
Pierre Van Caloen	....	sound editor
Philippe van Leer	....	foley artist
Wart Wamsteker	....	sound editor

Special Effects by
Olivier de Laveleye	....	special effects
Marie Pierre Franck	....	special effects (as Marie-Pierre Franckx)
Pierre Wuidart	....	special effects

Stunts
Willem de Beukelaer	....	stunt coordinator
Nicolas de Pruyssenaere	....	stunts
Marco Maas	....	utility stunts
Ronald Schuurbiers	....	stunts
Michel Struik	....	utility stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Björn Charpentier	....	clapper loader
Wim Cloots	....	lighting technician
Jan Dellaert	....	focus puller
Dries Leerschool	....	grip
Dries Leerschool	....	key grip
Kurt Reybroeck	....	grip
Jan Rubens	....	Steadicam operator
Michel Struik	....	camera car operator
Wim Temmerman	....	gaffer
Jo Vermaercke	....	Steadicam operator
Bob Wouters	....	electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Els Cuppens	....	costume assistant
Charlotte Willems	....	costume assistant

Editorial Department
Peter Bernaers	....	colorist
Huguette Vanvolsem	....	negative cutter (as Huguette van Volsem)

Music Department
Steve Parr	....	music mixer
Steve Parr	....	music recordist

Other crew
Jo van Hende	....	location manager

Thanks
Wim De Witte	....	thanks

Production Companies

• MMG Film & TV Production
• PVPictures (co-production)
• TROS Bridge Rights (co-production)
• TV1 (co-production)

Distributors

• ARP Sélection (2004) (France) (theatrical)
• NonStop Entertainment (2005) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Sony Pictures Classics (2005) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• A-Film Distribution (2004) (Netherlands)
• Kinepolis Film Distribution (KFD)
• Sandrews (2005) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Sunfilm Entertainment (2004) (Germany) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Ace Digital House

Other Companies

• Ace Digital House  post-production facilities

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)

Noirish police story as twisted as the killer's mind

This Belgian film was titled "The Memory of A Killer" when it played in Austin in September. Known in Europe as "The Alzheimer Case," it's a police procedural about an aging hit man with early Alzheimer's who agrees to complete what he knows is his last assignment. Movies featuring a character with Alzheimer's are often somber, bittersweet weepers. "The Memory of a Killer" is nothing like that.

It's a taut, fast-paced noir with a protagonist who lives by the same code as that of Alain Delon in Jean Pierre Melville's "Le Samourai" or Jean Gabin in "Touchez Pas Au Grisbi." The hit man Angelo Ledda is portrayed by Belgian actor Jan Decleir. He won his country's top acting award and other European festival honors for his nuanced, empathic performance.

How Ledda knows what's happening to his mind is explained in a way totally credible to anyone who has known someone suffering from this disease. Even as his mind slips away, he retains his morality about certain crimes and that code eventually sends him in directions that surprise and anger his employer. Ledda's crimes and related crimes drive two police investigators - and Ledda - in a race against time. The plot threads become as tangled and mysterious as the tangles in Ledda's diseased mind and unravel in a stunning conclusion.

This film was made by Belgian director Erik Van Looy, whose stylish work won top honors along with Decleir. The film is based on the novel "De Zaak Alzheimer" by popular Belgian detective novelist Jef Geeraerts. Hopefully, it and his other novels will be translated into English. Geeraerts' psychological approach evokes another Belgian writer, the incomparable Georges Simenon. This is the first of Geeraerts' stories to reach the big screen, and Hollywood has bought the rights to a remake. Don't wait; see the original. Decleir's portrayal should not be missed.