Film Fetish Friday: On The Road, Mon Pire Cauchemar, The Invader

About the author

As a freelance journalist, Anouk (26) usually writes about what other people do or like. In her precious spare time she watches arthouse films. Not a few. A lot, thanks to her trusted Cineville pass. Here she can finally share her film-fetish with the world.

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To watch or not to watch? I will tour around Amsterdam’s cinemas and answer this crucial question every Friday. Without mercy, of course. Sucky movies will be slaughtered, cinematographic pearls will be appreciated as such. Or the other way around. After all, good taste is in the eye of the beholder.

On The Road

55 years after the publication of Jack Kerouac’s book, On The Road is made into a film. The classic work of the Beat Generation inspired thousands, if not hundred thousands of people, who all wanted to ‘burn, burn, burn, like fabulous Roman candles exploding across the stars’. Brazilian director Walter Salles (The Motorcycle Diaries) got the film rights from Francis Ford Coppola, who bought them in 1979, ten years after Kerouac’s death. Salles casted Sam Riley as protagonist Sal Paradise, Kerouac’s alter ego. Garrett Hedlund, who I’ve never seen before- but hope to see again soon, is Dean Mortiarty (based on cult figure and Kerouac’s friend Neal Cassady). Last but not least, Kristen Stewart (Twilight) is Dean’s wife Marilou (alter ego of LuAnne Henderson).

Other cult figures of the Beat Generation also come by, like Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs. All by the names Kerouac gave them in his book of course. We see how all these people try to live an adventurous life, full of drugs, sex and endless roads across the States. On The Road is beautifully shot and the actors do a great job. The film is just a tiny bit too long, but if you’re prepared for that you can just go along with it.

Watch this film in Cineville’s Cinecenter, Eye, Rialto, The Movies. Also in Pathe (Tuschinski).

Mon Pire Cauchemar

In ‘My Worst Enemy’ we meet the snobby Parisian Agathe (Isabelle Huppert) and the blunt Patrick (Benoît Poelvoorde). They hate each other immediately, but they have to be friendly to one another when their sons start being good friends. You already know that Agathe will have feelings for Patrick in the end, but still the road to that end point is pretty entertaining. Yes, Mon Pire Cauchemar is way over the top and full of cliches. Still, it’s a sympathetic film which will make you laugh quiet a lot of times.

Watch this film in Cineville’s Cinecenter, Het Ketelhuis and Studio K.

The Invader

I haven’t seen this film yet; I only saw the opening shot and I was very intrigued by it. The Invader, by Belgian video artist Nicolas Provost, is about an illegal African immigrant in Brussels. The ‘invader’ (Issaka Sawadogo) doesn’t want to be a victim and tries to find his way into the real world. This is supposed to be not the typical immigrant film, so that sounds promising.

Watch this film in Cineville’s Kriterion and Rialto.

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