''Waiter'' ( nl, Ober) is a 2006

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 discu ...

film by

Alex van Warmerdam Alex van Warmerdam (born 14 August 1952) is a Dutch screenwriter, film director, and actor. He is also a painter. Life and career Van Warmerdam was born in Haarlem, a city in the province of North Holland in the Netherlands. He was cofounder of ...

. It tells the story of Edgar, a discontented waiter. The film had its world premiere on the

Toronto Film Festival Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

on 10 September 2006. It was the opening film 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 ...

, where ''Waiter'' received two Golden Calves, for Best Scenario and Best Production Design. In January 2007 the film received a Golden Film. The film is about stagnation of creativity and a take on overbearing of elements in life, it also takes wryly a puck-shot at god and his relation with humans.

Plot

''Waiter'' tells the story of Edgar (

), a waiter with a flair for the unfortunate. His wife, Ilse (Sylvia Poorta) is sick is overly rude to him. Customers at work constantly bully him and his neighbors make his life impossible. Fed up with the way his life is going, Edgar goes to the house of Herman (Mark Rietman), the scriptwriter who invented Edgar and is currently writing his story. Edgar complains about the events in his life that keep getting worse and begs for some positive events in his life, including a decent girlfriend. Herman decides to create Stella ( Line Van Wambeke), but soon Edgar realizes that Stella will only complicate his life more. Meanwhile Edgar is pestered by his pushy girlfriend Victoria (

Ariane Schluter Ariane Schluter (born 1 February 1966) is a Dutch actress. She is best known for playing in films by such Dutch filmmakers as Alex van Warmerdam and Theo van Gogh. Career Ariane Schluter studied at the Maastricht Academy of Dramatic Arts. Af ...

), who constantly tries to be with him. Driven to insanity by Herman and his obnoxious girlfriend Suzie (

Thekla Reuten Thekla Simona Gelsomina Reuten (born 16 September 1975) is a Dutch actress. Life and career Reuten was born in Bussum, Netherlands, the daughter of a Dutch father, Joost Reuten, and an Italian mother, who was born in Benabbio near Bagni di Lucc ...

), Edgar constantly tries to interfere with his story. Herman decides to make the story more extreme and violent and finally ends the story out of desperation with Edgar's death.

Awards

Golden Calf for Best Script The following is a list of winners of the Golden Calf for best script at the NFF. This category was awarded since 1999. * 2022 '' Do Not Hesitate'' - Jolein Laarman * 2021 '' The Judgement'' - Bert Bouma & Sander Burger * 2020 '' Romy's Salon'' - ...

(2006)Winnaars Gouden Kalveren 2006

, 2006. Retrieved on 8 October 2006. * Golden Calf for Best Production Design (2006) * Golden Film (2007)

References

External links

* {{Alex van Warmerdam 2006 films 2006 black comedy films 2000s Dutch-language films 2000s English-language films Films directed by Alex van Warmerdam 2006 comedy films 2006 multilingual films Dutch multilingual films Dutch black comedy films English-language Dutch films