&Me (2013)

Director:

Norbert ter Hall

Writers:

Norbert ter Hall (writer)
Oscar van den Boogaard (book)

Release Date:

14 March 2013 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Romance

Plot:

Three loners from Sitges, Berlin and Amsterdam try to blend together in Brussels, city of unification. L'amour c'est bizarre.

Cast

Mark Waschke	...	Eduard
Verónica Echegui	...	Edurne
Teun Luijkx	...	Richard
Rafael Cebrián	...	Julio
Rossy de Palma	...	Mother
Howard Charles	...	Albert
Pamela Knaack	...	Gertrude
Julian Looman	...	Gunther
Michel Nabokoff	...	Civil Servant

Directed by
Norbert ter Hall

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Norbert ter Hall		writer
Oscar van den Boogaard		book

Produced by
Peter Bouckaert	....	co-producer
Petra Goedings	....	producer
Titus Kreyenberg	....	co-producer
Jose Van Doorn	....	line producer

Original Music by
Jasper Boeke		(original music by)

Cinematography by
Richard Van Oosterhout

Film Editing by
Isabel Meier

Casting by
Marc van Bree

Production Design by
Pepijn Van Looy

Art Direction by
Momo Ayada		(art direction)

Costume Design by
Nathalie Leborgne

Makeup Department
Erik Hillenbrink	....	tattoo transfers
Hennesien van Walderveen	....	key makeup artist

Production Management
Gitte Nuyens	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Laurence Rexter-Baker	....	first assistant director

Art Department
John Lambrechts	....	on-set picture vehicles
Floris Van Looy	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Corinna Fleig	....	sound editor
Tobias Fleig	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tobias Fleig	....	supervising sound editor
Paul Maernoudt	....	sound
Peter Rösner	....	sound mixer
Wilmont Schulze	....	foley artist
Björn Wiese	....	adr editor
Björn Wiese	....	dialogue editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Manu Alberts	....	steadicam operator
Gert-Jan Coorevits	....	electrician
Nyk Dekeyser	....	still photographer
Benoit Delfosse	....	additional electrician
Richard Desmarlieres	....	grip
Chris Hacken	....	gaffer
Guenael Pinson	....	grip
Sander Raemdonck	....	best boy
Olivier Servais	....	first assistant camera
Benjamin Speyer	....	key grip
Antonin Suppes	....	additional electrician

Casting Department
Brigitte De Witte	....	extras casting: Belgium
Joyce Nettles	....	casting: uk

Editorial Department
Dirk Meier	....	colorist
Ruth Schönegge	....	assistant editor
Hervé Vander Heyden	....	telecine dailies colorist

Music Department
Anneke van Giersbergen	....	theme song: sung by

Other crew
Lars Bauwens	....	making-of

Production Companies

• Phanta Vision Film International B.V.
• Eyeworks Film & TV Drama
• unafilm (co-production)

Distributors

• Cinéart (2013) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Farbfilm-Verleih (2013) (Germany) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Vantage Film  camera equipment provided by

Country:

Netherlands

Language:

Dutch | French | German | English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Certification:

Netherlands:12

Company:

Phanta Vision Film International B.V.

Atoms

I stumbled upon this during a sneak preview and I must unfortunately admit it is probably one of the worst movies I've ever seen. It has a terrible screenplay, most actions and characters in the story are utterly unbelievable. It is so badly edited that the pacing is wrong in almost every scene. Camera-work is amateurish (Dutch cameramen usually ARE reliable in this regard) and the unexperienced director has no clue about making the story work for the screen. Most acting here is so laughable that the audience laughed at scenes that should be heartbreaking. The only acceptable performance comes from Rossy de Palma, known from several Almodóvar movies.

The story is about several European civil servants meeting at the EU-center Brussels and starting and finishing relations. It is somewhat in the realm of Bertolucci's The Dreamers: Young people experimenting with their lives, sexuality and ending back in reality again. At first sight it seems like some sponsored EU propaganda, showing how great it is to meet all kinds of different Europeans. Many scenes are filmed in Brussels and Strassbourg, the EU color blue is prominently used (even the plaster is blue). However as the movie progresses more criticism arises: unnecessary locations to Strasbourg, nobody actually works in the movie (the only work scenes are afternoon drinks). Add to this that you can see the characters not only as standing for themselves but also for their respective nations, the whole pointlessness of European integration comes to light (intended or not?). In the end everybody is alone again, signified by the atom symbolism in the Brussels Atomium.

It seems like an intelligent movie, it even could have been, but it fails so utterly in all movie departments that I can unfortunately only recommend that you avoid this like the plague.