''Ex Drummer'' is a

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

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 language ...

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

and rock music film directed by Koen Mortier, whose previous work was limited to television commercials. It is based on the 1994 book by

Herman Brusselmans Herman Frans Martha Brusselmans (; born 9 October 1957) is a Belgian novelist, poet, playwright and columnist. He lives in Ghent. He is one of the best-selling authors in Flanders, but controversial at the same time for his profane language and ...

of the same name. While receiving mixed reviews at the time, it went on to become a

cult film A cult film or cult movie, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage i ...

Plot

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariake ...

West Flanders ) , settlement_type = Province of Belgium , image_flag = Flag of West Flanders.svg , flag_size = , image_shield = Wapen van West-Vlaanderen.svg , shield_size = , image_map ...

, three physically disabled musicians are looking for a drummer for their punk rock band. They want to perform only one time at a music competition. They approach famous writer Dries to be their drummer, the idea being that he also has a "handicap" in that he cannot actually play the drums. They plan to master only one song,

Devo Devo (, originally ) is an American rock band from Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau ...

's "Mongoloid." For Dries, this is an opportunity to get some inspiration for a new novel, so he accepts the offer. The band members decide to call the band The Feminists, since, they think four "handicapped" musicians are just as worthless as a group of feminists. Their main opponents are the band Harry Mulisch (an allusion to

Harry Mulisch Harry Kurt Victor Mulisch ( ; 29 July 1927 – 30 October 2010) was a Dutch writer. He wrote more than 80 novels, plays, essays, poems, and philosophical reflections. Mulisch's works have been translated into over thirty languages. Along with W ...

), also led by a writer, nicknamed Dikke Lul ("Fat Cock"). As the story goes on Dries becomes more and more obsessed by his new novel and he tries to manipulate the band members and tries to find their weak spot.

Cast

Dries Vanhegen During the 1980s, members of the moderate wing of the British Conservative Party who opposed some of the more hard-line policies of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher were often referred to by their opponents as "wets". Thatcher coined the usage i ...

: Dries * Norman Baert: Koen de Geyter * Sam Louwyck: Ivan Van Dorpe * Gunter Lamoot: Jan Verbeek * Tristan Versteven: Dorian * Dolores Bouckaert: Lio * Barbara Callewaert: Christine * François Beukelaers: Pa Verbeek * Bernadette Damman: Ma Verbeek * Jan Hammenecker: Dikke Lul

Soundtrack

The music of The Feminists was in fact performed by Belgian band

Millionaire A millionaire is an individual whose net worth or wealth is equal to or exceeds one million units of currency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire. In countries that use the short s ...

and the Harry Mulisch song was sung by Belgian singer

Flip Kowlier Flip Kowlier (pseudonym of Filip Willy Mariette Cauwelier, born 15 March 1976 in Izegem, West Flanders) is a Belgian singer-songwriter. He sings in a distinct West Flemish West Flemish (''West-Vlams'' or ''West-Vloams'' or ''Vlaemsch'' (in F ...

. # Lightning Bolt – "2 Morro Morro Land" # Madensuyu – "Papa Bear" # An Pierlé & White Velvet – "Need You Now" # The Tritones – "Chagrin De La Mer" #

Mogwai Mogwai () are a Scottish post-rock band, formed in 1995 in Glasgow. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite (guitar, vocals), Barry Burns (guitar, piano, synthesizer, vocals), Dominic Aitchison (bass guitar), and Martin Bulloch (drums). ...

– "Hunted by a Freak" # The Experimental Tropic Blues Band – "Mexico Dream Blues" #

– "De Grotste Lul Van 't Stad" #

– "Mongoloid" #

Isis Isis (; ''Ēse''; ; Meroitic language, Meroitic: ''Wos'' 'a''or ''Wusa''; Phoenician language, Phoenician: 𐤀𐤎, romanized: ʾs) was a major ancient Egyptian deities, goddess in ancient Egyptian religion whose worship spread throughou ...

– "In Fiction" #

– "Grinning Mouths" # Arno Hintjens – "Een Boeket Met Pissebloemen" #

Augusta National Golf Club Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Unlike most private clubs which operate as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation, and it does no ...

– "People in Pairs" # Mel Dune – "Time Hangs Heavy on Your Hands" #

Ghinzu Ghinzu is a Belgian alternative rock band founded in 1999 in Brussels. Lineup *John Israel (also known as John Stargasm) (voice, keyboards), full name John-David Simon Israel *Mika "Nagazaki" Hasson (bass), full name Michael Salvatore Hass ...

– "Blow" #

Funeral Dress Funeral Dress is a street punk band from Belgium who formed in 1985. Their big hits include "I'm in Love with Oi", "Free Beer for the Punx", "Party Political Bullshit", "Party On", "Freedom and Liberty", "Belgium's Burning", "Come On Follow" an ...

– "Hello from the Underground" #

– "Deep Fish" #

Blutch Blutch, pen name of Christian Hincker (born 27 December 1967 in Strasbourg) is a French comic book author. He is considered one of the main authors of French comics since the early 1990s. Biography After studying at the École supérieure des ...

– "Moving Ground"

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

the film has an approval rating of 44% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 4.81/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, the film has a rating of 36 out of 100 based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". In Belgium it caused some controversy due to the violence and explicit sex in the film.

Awards

* Fant-Asia Film Festival ** won Jury Prize Best First Feature-Koen Mortier *

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove to ...

** won Jury Prize Debut Feature-Koen Mortier * Warsaw International Film Festival ** won Special Jury Award-Koen Mortier * Rotterdam International Film Festival ** Tiger Award-Koen Mortier

References

External links

* * {{Rotten-tomatoes, ex-drummer 2007 films Belgian biographical films Belgian comedy films Belgian rock music films 2000s Dutch-language films Belgian LGBT-related films Films based on Flemish novels Films set in Belgium Belgium in fiction 2000s crime films 2007 comedy-drama films 2000s musical films Punk films LGBT-related horror films LGBT-related musical films 2007 LGBT-related films Films about disability Dutch-language Belgian films