'' 1000 Roses '' () is a

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by Theu Boermans and based on a play by

Gustav Ernst Gustav Ernst (born 23 August 1944) is an Austrian playwright, novelist and screenwriter. He has also founded and edited two literary journals, ''Wespennest'' and '' kolik''. Ernst was born in Vienna, where he read Philosophy, Psychology and His ...

. It was the opening movie of the

Netherlands Film Festival The Netherlands Film Festival () is an annual film festival, held in September and October of each year in the city of Utrecht. During the ten-day festival, Dutch film productions and co-productions are exhibited. Besides feature films, the prog ...

and won the Golden Calves for

Best Feature Film Best or The Best may refer to: People * Best (surname), people with the surname Best * Best (footballer, born 1968), retired Portuguese footballer Companies and organizations * Best & Co., an 1879–1971 clothing chain * Best Lock Corporatio ...

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress award ...

(Heebink) and Best Actor (Spijkers). Even though it won these awards, it wasn't a commercial success. The movie attracted 6.518 visitors and made 29.710 euros.

Plot

In the 1960s, an industrial town is in turmoil after the local steel factory is going to shut down. Together with her mother, Gina runs a small business in gardening and DIY tools. They also get help from her boyfriend Harry, although her mother is not very fond of him. Gina and her mother get into an argument when Gina buys a computer and hires an

accountant An accountant is a practitioner of accounting or accountancy. Accountants who have demonstrated competency through their professional associations' certification exams are certified to use titles such as Chartered Accountant, Chartered Certif ...

, Kernstock, to modernise the business. She gets a loan from her uncle, the bank manager, and decides to expand. Americans appear in the town to invest in the small industrial town. The impending shutdown of steel factory appears to be over. But when it turns out that the Americans have bought the failing steel factory merely for

speculation In finance, speculation is the purchase of an asset (a commodity, good (economics), goods, or real estate) with the hope that it will become more valuable in a brief amount of time. It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hope ...

, the industrial town dies out.

Cast

* Marieke Heebink ... Gina * Jaap Spijkers ... Harry * Tessa Lilly Wyndham ... Liesje * Marianne Rogée ... Gina's Mother * Marisa Van Eyle ... Rita *

Bert Geurkink Bert or BERT may refer to: Persons, characters, or animals known as Bert *Bert (name), commonly an abbreviated forename and sometimes a surname *Bert, a character in the poem "Bert the Wombat" by The Wiggles; from their 1992 album ''Here Comes a ...

... Kernstock * Hannes Demming ... Uncle / Bank manager *

Rik Launspach Rik Launspach (born 19 July 1958, in Arnhem, Gelderland, The Netherlands) is a Dutch actor, writer and director. He is married to actress Marjolein Beumer and is the brother-in-law to Famke Janssen and Antoinette Beumer. Early life and career ...

... Mr. Marshall * Busso Mehring ... Clochard * Georg Bühren ... Bank employee * Michiel Mentens ... Mr. Offermans * Camilla Mercier ... Old Lady * Jean Vercoutere ... Factory manager * Clement Franz ... Mayor * Christian Deuson ... Politie commissioner

Background

The Austrian

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

depicts a town where people are sick and vomit blood on the streets. Because of the impending shutdown of the local factory, everyone is upset and worried. But then, the Americans arrive and they bring a lot of

wealth Wealth is the abundance of valuable financial assets or physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the originating Old English word , which is from an ...

and

prosperity Prosperity is the flourishing, thriving, good fortune and successful social status. Prosperity often produces profuse wealth including other factors which can be profusely wealthy in all degrees, such as happiness and health. Competing notions ...

with them. But that does not bring happiness. 1000 Rosen, despite being realistic, is a

parable A parable is a succinct, didactic story, in prose or verse, that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. It differs from a fable in that fables employ animals, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature as characters, whe ...

about Europe after

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the World War, Europe was broken and sick, but scrambled back on its feet with the help of the United States. Not without a sense of irony, the American who takes over the factory is called Mr Marshall. The same name as the person responsible for the

Marshall plan The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative enacted in 1948 to provide foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred $13.3 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in economic recovery pr ...

, former

minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (31 December 1880 – 16 October 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army under pres ...

. According to Ernst's point of view, the prosperity brought by the Americans only brings

envy Envy is an emotion which occurs when a person lacks another's quality, skill, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it. Envy can also refer to the wish for another person to lack something one already ...

and speculation. The rose bushes that overrun the town at the end of the movie are reminiscent of the fairy tale

Sleeping Beauty "Sleeping Beauty" (, or ''The Beauty Sleeping in the Wood''; , or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess curse, cursed by an evil fairy to suspended animation in fi ...

. But considering that the sounds of the

Stabat Mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to the Virgin Mary that portrays her suffering as mother during the crucifixion of her son Jesus Christ. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Saba ...

can be heard indicates that it is not about sleep, but death.

Production

Director Theu Boermans performed the play 1000 Rosen in 1990, with the theatre company ''De Trust.'' In the movie adaptation, he used some of the actors from this group. To increase the

alienation effect The distancing effect, also translated as alienation effect ( or ''V-Effekt''), is a concept in performing arts credited to German playwright Bertolt Brecht. Brecht first used the term in his essay "Alienation Effects in Chinese Acting" published ...

, the actors speak in

Low German Low German is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language variety, language spoken mainly in Northern Germany and the northeastern Netherlands. The dialect of Plautdietsch is also spoken in the Russian Mennonite diaspora worldwide. "Low" ...

. Boermans shot the film in 34 days on site in Bois du Luc, a village in southern Belgium, and in the halls of Amsterdam's (former)

Westergasfabriek The Westergasfabriek is a former gasworks in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, now used as a cultural venue. History In the 19th century the Imperial Continental Gas Association (ICGA) built four coal gas plants in Amsterdam: the Eastern Gas Factory, ...

. The total budget was 2 million

Dutch guilder The guilder (, ) or florin was the currency of the Netherlands from 1434 until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. The Dutch name was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning 'golden', and reflects the fact that, when first introduced in 1434, its ...

s (around 900.000 euros).

References

External links

* {{Golden Calf for Best Feature Film Dutch drama films 1994 films 1990s Dutch-language films Films shot in the Netherlands Best Feature Film Golden Calf winners Films produced by Matthijs van Heijningen Shooting Star Filmcompany films