''Koko Flanel'' is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

comedy movie directed by Stijn Coninx starring

Urbanus Urbain Servranckx (born 7 June 1949), better known as Urbanus, is a Belgian comedian, actor, singer and comic book writer. Although he is most famous as comedian, some of his songs became hits, such as ''Bakske vol met stro'' (1979), ''Madammen ...

, Bea Van Der Maat,

Willeke van Ammelrooy Willy Geertje van Ammelrooij (born 5 April 1944), known as Willeke van Ammelrooy, is a Dutch actress and director. Life and career Willeke van Ammelrooy was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She attended drama school in Amsterdam. Van Ammel ...

, Herbert Flack and Ann Petersen. The movie was released in 1990 and was until 18 February 2009 the most successful

Flemish Flemish (''Vlaams'') is a Low Franconian dialect cluster of the Dutch language. It is sometimes referred to as Flemish Dutch (), Belgian Dutch ( ), or Southern Dutch (). Flemish is native to Flanders, a historical region in northern Belgium; ...

movie with respect to the number of visitors in Belgian

movie theatre A movie theater (American English), cinema (British English), or cinema hall (Indian English), also known as a movie house, picture house, the movies, the pictures, picture theater, the silver screen, the big screen, or simply theater is a ...

s. It was then beaten by '' Loft''. Chart of most successful Belgian movies

Story

Placide Smellekens is an unsuccessful market vendor of

birdcage A birdcage (or bird cage) is a cage designed to house birds as pets. Antique (or antique-style) birdcages are often popular as collectors' items or as household decor but most are not suitable for housing live birds, being too small, improper ...

s and accessories. His father demanded, just before dying, Placide must get married within one year. If not, his father will return as a ghost to haunt him. Placide explains this is going to be rather difficult: 1) woman do not turn up again after a date, 2) he is afraid to have children as ugly as the daughters of his brother. A few days later, Placide is at the market. At same time, a famous fashion company is taking photos to promote their expensive fur coats. After the posters have been published it turns out Placide is visible in the background wearing an awful cheap pink sweater. Without knowing, the company created a hype: Placide is recognized everywhere, and more, everyone wants such a pink sweater instead of a fur coat. The fashion company invites Placide to give him a ransom. There he meets Sarah, one of the secretaries, and falls in love. She is however in love with Arlondo, one of the best models, who promised her to divorce from his wife to start a new life with Sarah. The management is more and more convinced Placide will be a good investment for further campaigns. Although he does not have the qualities of a good model, the people adore him for his simplicity. Placide gets a full-time job. As from now he will be known as "Koko Flanel". The other models are not happy with their new colleague. They must follow strict diets, training schemes, guidelines, ... whereas Koko can do and eat whatever he wants. Furthermore, almost all big customers want Placide in their commercials and the "real models" are neglected. Placide finds out Sarah wants to make her own clothing line, which is rejected by the management. Sarah becomes more and more interested in the naïve Placide which results in a jealous Arlondo. Some time after Placide quits his job, Sarah breaks all contact with him. A depressed Placide visits Sarah's mother who thinks he must win the heart of Sarah. Together, they sabotage the new fashion show and replace all clothes with Sarah's designs. The customers find those clothes so exclusive, they all want to distribute them. Sarah decides Arlondo is not the person she really loves and chooses for Placide.

Soundtrack

She Likes Double Trouble
Mystery

Cast

- Placide Smellekens * Bea Van Der Maat - Sarah *

- Germaine * Herbert Flack - Arlondo * Ann Petersen - Dora, mother of Sarah *

Henri Garcin Henri Garcin (born Anton Albers; 11 April 1928 – 13 June 2022) was a Belgian film actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1956 to 2022. Selected filmography * ''Mademoiselle and Her Gang'' (1957) * '' Mata Hari, Agent H21'' (1964) * ' ...

- Didier de Merengue *

Koen Crucke Koenraad Desiré Arthur (Koen) Crucke (born 11 February 1952 in Ghent) is a Belgian operatic tenor, politician, and actor of stage, television, and film. As an opera singer he has been particularly active at the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp where he sp ...

- Jean-Claude * Philippe Kerjean - Helmut de Merengue * Isabelle Noah - Orphelia *

Leontine Nelissen Leontine may refer to: ;As a given name * Leontine "Lona" Cohen (1913–1992), American spy for the Soviet Union * Leontine Cooper (1837–1903), Australian trade unionist, suffragist and campaigner for women's rights *Leontine T. Kelly (1920–201 ...

- Hildeke * Marc-Henri Wajnberg - Frédérique *

Chris Cauwenberghs Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

- Fritz * Romain Deconinck - Father Smellekens *

Jan Decleir Jan Decleir (born as ''Jan Amanda Gustaaf Decleir'' on 14 February 1946) is a prolific Belgian movie and stage actor born in Niel, Antwerp. Career He had his first big role in Fons Rademakers's ''Mira'' (1971). Since then, he has appeared in ...

- Azère, brother of Placide

External links

References

{{Stijn Coninx Films directed by Stijn Coninx Belgian romantic comedy films 1990 romantic comedy films 1990 films Dutch-language films Films set in Belgium Belgium in fiction