Brussels by Night is a Belgian drama film from 1983, directed by former Humo journalist Marc Didden. The low budget picture was financed partly by

Herman Schueremans Herman Schueremans (born 5 January 1954) is a Flemish politician and concertpromotor. Schueremans was involved from the start with Rock Werchter and Torhout-Werchter. Now he still organises Rock Werchter for Live Nation, that bought the two f ...

, organizer of the Flemish rock festival

Rock Werchter Rock Werchter is an annual music festival held in the village of Werchter, near Leuven, Belgium, since 1976 and is a large sized rock music festival. The 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2014 festivals received the Arthur award for ''best festiv ...

. The film was named after a 1979 song by

Raymond van het Groenewoud Raymond van het Groenewoud (born 14 February 1950) is a Belgian musician. He was born in Schaerbeek, of Dutch descent, and he sings primarily in Dutch. His biggest hits include "Vlaanderen Boven", "Meisjes", "Je Veux de l'Amour", "Zjoske Schone M ...

, who also wrote the soundtrack for the movie. ''Brussels by Night'' was important in Belgian film history because its bleak, grey atmosphere and stream of consciousness structure were a sharp contrast with the more conventional films the country produced up to then.

Plot

Brussels 1983. Max is seriously depressed. He tries to commit suicide by sticking a gun in his mouth, but when the gun jams, he cries nevertheless. We follow him as he travels through Brussels without any goal and provokes everyone he meets. His mood changes at the most unpredictable moments. Max meets two people, Alice, a bar keeper, and Abdel, her customer of Moroccan descent. Both men fancy Alice as their mistress. The climax of the story takes place on the

Ronquières inclined plane The Ronquières Inclined Plane is a Belgian canal inclined plane on the Brussels-Charleroi Canal in the province of Hainaut in Wallonia that opened in April 1968 after six years of construction. It is in the municipality of Braine-le-Comte and tak ...

Cast

François Beukelaers François () is a French masculine given name and surname, equivalent to the English name Francis. People with the given name * Francis I of France, King of France (), known as "the Father and Restorer of Letters" * Francis II of France, King ...

: Max * Johan Joos: Station assistant * Mariette Mathieu: Lady in train * Daniël Van Avermaet: Taxi chauffeur *

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 ...

: Louis * Nellie Rosiers: Josephine-Charlotte *

Marleen Merckx Marleen is a Dutch-language feminine given name. It can be a contraction of Maria and either Magdalena or Helena.Marlee ...

: Waitress * Ingrid De Vos: Alice * Amid Chakir: Abdel *

Bernard Van Eeghem Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brave ...

: Night club bouncer * Jan Reussens: Receptionist *

Fred Van Kuyk Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Rodr ...

: Jules * Machteld Ramoudt: Sister Alice *

Liliane De Waegeneer Liliane is a given name for women, most often used where French is spoken, a variant of Lillian and Lily, associated with the flower name Lily, genus Lilium. People with this name *Liliane Ackermann (1938–2007), French writer of a Jewish famil ...

: Ecologist at party *

Paul Pauwels Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

: Blonde boy at party *

Jim Van Leemput Jim or JIM may refer to: * Jim (given name), a given name * Jim, a diminutive form of the given name James * Jim, a short form of the given name Jimmy * OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism * ''Jim'' (comics), a series by Jim Woodring * ''Jim' ...

: Parking meter man * Josse De Pauw: Man in laundrette *

Jaak Pijpen Jaak is a version of the names Jacob and James in the Estonian language. People named Jaak include: *Jaak Aab (born 1960), Estonian politician *Jaak Aaviksoo (born 1954), Estonian politician and physicists *Jaak Allik (born 1946), Estonian poli ...

: Guide in Ronquières *

Ronny Waterschoot Ronny is a given name, sometimes a short form (hypocorism) of Ryan. It may refer to: * Ronny (footballer, born 1986), Brazilian footballer Ronny Heberson Furtado de Araújo * Ronny (footballer, born 1991), Brazilian footballer Ronieri da Silva Pin ...

: Police officer * Guy Mortier: Assistant-judge *

Senne Rouffaer Félicien P. I. (Senne) Rouffaer (19 December 1925 – 14 July 2006) was a Flemish actor and film director. One of his most successful films as a lead actor was ''The Man Who Had His Hair Cut Short''. On television, he was chiefly known for his ...

: Judge *

Brendan Fonteyne Brendan may refer to: People * Saint Brendan the Navigator (c. 484 – c. 577) was an Irish monastic saint. * Saint Brendan of Birr (died 573), Abbot of Birr in Co. Offaly, contemporaneous with the above * Brendan (given name), a masculine given na ...

: Son of Max * Fransceska Buelens: Wife of Max

Awards

* 1980: Staatsprijs for Best Script * 1983: Best Debut Filmfestival of San Sebastian * 1983: Silver trophy Spanish Federation of Ciné-Clubs at the Filmfestival of San Sebastian * 1983: André Cavens Prijs: Best Belgian film (Belgische Unie van de Filmkritiek) * 1984: 'Outstanding Film of the Year' Filmfestival of Londen

References

External links

*
MovieMeter: Brussels by Night (1983)

De Standaard, 10 januari 2004: Brussels by Night
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brussels By Night 1983 films Belgian drama films Films set in Belgium Films shot in Belgium Films set in Brussels Belgian independent films 1980s Dutch-language films 1980s French-language films Films directed by Marc Didden 1983 drama films 1983 independent films 1983 multilingual films Belgian multilingual films French-language Belgian films