Phileine Says Sorry (2003)

Gorgeous Dutch youngster Max has two passions, acting and girls. The first becomes his brilliant career, which takes off so well he gets invited to a prestigious New York theatre course for... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Jan Westdijk

Writers:

Ronald Giphart (novel), Robert Jan Westdijk

Stars:

Kim van Kooten, Michiel Huisman, Hadewych Minis

5 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kim van Kooten	...	Phileine
Michiel Huisman	...	Max
Hadewych Minis	...	Gulpje
Tara Elders	...	Lala
Kenan Raven	...	LT
Mads Wittermans	...	Christiaan
Leona Philippo	...	Joanne
Liesbeth Kamerling	...	Fleur
Daan Schuurmans	...	Dylan
Roeland Fernhout	...	Jules
Kürt Rogiers	...	Reginald
Timothy Smith	...	Leonard
Todd Rotondi	...	Bef
Michael John Fedun	...	Buk
Ronald Giphart	...	Ronald

Storyline

Gorgeous Dutch youngster Max has two passions, acting and girls. The first becomes his brilliant career, which takes off so well he gets invited to a prestigious New York theatre course for a year. But since he met fickle bitch Phileine in an Utrecht park, his flirting life is cut short while she cruelly plays with his feelings rather then his horny body. After refusing to follow him, she turns up uninvited later and still acts jealous and possessive. Grief follows for everyone, working up to a convoluted finale.

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Plot Keywords:

male frontal nudity | male full frontal nudity | barefoot male | fight | pubic hair | 

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Genres:

Drama | Comedy | Romance

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Director Robert Jan Westdijk and writer Ronald Giphart found each other in their dislike of the previous film based on Giphart's work, I Love You Too (2001). They decided to work together to make a more faithful adaptation of Giphart's novel "Phileine Zegt Sorry". That is why Giphart has a cameo in the movie where he states that the movie is better than his book.

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Goofs

At the end, when Phileine runs towards Max at the AIDS benefit, the singer of the band is the background isn't doing anything although we *do* hear the band perform.

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Quotes

Lotti, the mother: I just want you to know there are two kinds of fidelity in a relationship: love fidelity and sex fidelity. Your father gives me love, depth and peace; and Antonio, Anand, Costas and Mustapha help me crease the sheets. For those moments in life when the underbelly conquers the brain. When euphoria, ecstasy, despair...

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Connections

Referenced in De wereld draait door: Episode #1.34 (2005)

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Soundtracks

I'm Sorry
Zosja

User Reviews

Quick, witty, catchy but also unemotional and flat.

Sex sells. That is something Dutch author Ronald Giphart is very well aware of. This was evident in the first filmed novel by the author: 'Ik Ook Van Jou' but even more in 'Phileine Zegt Sorry' (Phileine Says Sorry).

The original novel is hilarious, quick, witty, from a female perspective, but written by a heterosexual male author. The novel is full of quick one-liners and so is this move ('I believe in sex at first sight' and 'We don't care you have a low self-esteem, just don't bother us with it').

The thing is a quite weak story as 'Phileine' demands a quick witty approach, which Robert-Jan Westdijk (the director) seems to be perfectly able at. He seems to have understood what the story is all about: Phileine, a super-bitch, follows her boyfriend Max to New York, where she finds out about the rather exclusive approach he's giving to Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet'.

Although the movie is quick it has quite some flaws. Westdijk doesn't take enough time to finish off some crucial scenes. The final scene has been handled off quite fast and almost messy and the movie really lacks emotion at times. Westdijk doesn't seem to wanna fall in the pit called 'false sentiment' but in stead of carefully avoiding it he doesn't seem to use any of it in 'Phileine'. To be perfectly honest one wouldn't care less whether or not Phileine regains the love of Max or how she handles it. She's a bitch, so she'll survive and go on with her live.

Kim van Kooten however is perfectly cast and throws in the one-liners one at a time from scratch. Michiel Huisman may be nice to look at (all pumped up) but is rather disappointing as the flat character of Max. This is also due to his rather poor acting qualities. Roeland Fernhout's part as the androgynous Jules is unforgettable and could have used deserved more screen time.

The novel already makes use of too many character with their individual story-lines that push away the main story-line: the one between Phileine and Max, but in the movie this gets annoying at points.

Fortunately Westdijk's quick approach makes up for a lot but not for everything. 'Sometimes the movie is just better than the movie', says author Giphart in a cameo (please no more cameos in any of his movies!). I am afraid I have to disagree with him. But then again: is the movie ever better than the novel?

Still 'Phileine Zegt Sorry' speeds up hope for the Dutch movie industry (especially now that governmental finance has been abolished) and especially for Dutch rom-coms.

Details

Official Sites:

Phileinezegtsorry.nl [Netherlands]

Country:

Netherlands USA

Language:

Dutch English

Release Date:

9 October 2003 (Netherlands)

Also Known As:

Phileine Says Sorry

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Box Office

Budget:

EUR3,200,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$395,984

Company Credits

Production Co:

Motel Films, Fu Works, BNN TV

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Color:

Color