'' 1000 Roses '' ( nl, 1000 Rosen) is a

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

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. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

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 Histor ...

. It was the opening movie of the

Netherlands Film Festival The Netherlands Film Festival ( nl, Nederlands 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. Be ...

and won the

Golden Calves According to the Bible, the golden calf (עֵגֶל הַזָּהָב '' ‘ēgel hazzāhāv'') was an idol (a cult image) made by the Israelites when Moses went up to Mount Sinai. In Hebrew, the incident is known as ''ḥēṭə’ hā‘ēgel ...

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 awar ...

(Heebink) and

Best Actor Best Actor is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actors in a film, television series, television film or play. The term most often refers to th ...

(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 Certifi ...

, 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 shortly. (It can also refer to short sales in which the speculator hopes for a decline i ...

, the industrial town dies out.

Cast

Marieke Heebink Marieke, sometimes written as Marike or Marique (), is a Dutch-language feminine given name, a diminutive of Maria. The Polish, Greek and Japanese equivalent is Marika. The ''-ke'' suffix is characteristic for Flemish, Brabantian and Limburgish di ...

... Gina *

Jaap Spijkers Jaap may refer to: * Jaap Sahib, Sikh prayer * Jaap (given name) Jaap is a Dutch given name that is short for Jacob or Jacobus (Jacob or James in English). People with this name include: Academics *Jaap R. Bruijn (born 1938), Dutch maritime his ...

... Harry *

Tessa Lilly Wyndham Tessa is a feminine given name, sometimes a shortened form of Theresa. It may refer to: People * Tessa Albertson (born 1996), American actress * Tessa Balfour, Countess of Balfour (born 1950), British aristocrat * Tessa Blanchard (born 1994), Ame ...

... Liesje * Marianne Rogée ... Gina's Mother *

Marisa Van Eyle Marisa may refer to: * Marisa (town), an Indonesian town * Marisa, Hellenised name of Maresha, town in Idumea (today in Israel) * Marisa (given name), a feminine personal name * ''Marisa'' (gastropod), a genus of apple snails * MV ''Marisa'' (193 ...

... 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 Son ...

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

Rik Launspach Ric 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 Michiel is a Dutch language, Dutch masculine given name equivalent to Michael (given name), Michael and a Republic of Venice, Venetian surname. Given name *Michiel Andrieszoon (died 1684), Dutch pirate *Michiel Bartman (born 1967), Dutch rower ...

... Mr. Offermans *

Camilla Mercier Camilla may refer to: People * Camilla (given name), including a list of people with the name ** Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), wife of King Charles III Places * Camilla, Georgia, a city in the United States * Camilla Castle, an alternativ ...

... Old Lady * Jean Vercoutere ... Factory manager * Clement Franz ... Mayor *

Christian Deuson Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...

... Politie commissioner

Background

The Austrian

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

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 Value (economics), valuable financial assets or property, physical possessions which can be converted into a form that can be used for financial transaction, transactions. This includes the core meaning as held in the ...

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 notion ...

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, w ...

about Europe after

WWII World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. 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 over $13 billion (equivalent of about $ in ) in economic re ...

, former

minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

George Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the US Army under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry ...

. 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. Aristotle defined envy as pain at the sight of another's good fortune, stirred b ...

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'' (french: La belle au bois dormant, or ''The Beauty in the Sleeping Forest''; german: Dornröschen, or ''Little Briar Rose''), also titled in English as ''The Sleeping Beauty in the Woods'', is a fairy tale about a princess cu ...

. But considering that the sounds of the

Stabat Mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to Mary, which portrays her suffering as Jesus Christ's mother during his crucifixion. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Sabatier, Paul ''Life o ...

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 (german: Verfremdungseffekt 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 ...

, the actors speak in

Low German : : : : : (70,000) (30,000) (8,000) , familycolor = Indo-European , fam2 = Germanic , fam3 = West Germanic , fam4 = North Sea Germanic , ancestor = Old Saxon , ancestor2 = Middle L ...

. 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 ( nl, gulden, ) or florin was the currency of the Netherlands from the 15th century until 2002, when it was replaced by the euro. The Dutch name ''gulden'' was a Middle Dutch adjective meaning "golden", and reflects the fact that, wh ...

s (around 900.000 euros).

External links

References

{{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