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feature in focus
GOING DUTCH WITH BURT The Hermit Of Amsterdam - a romantic comedy
with “a twice-upon-a-time-twist”
A cosmopolitan cast led by
Hollywood veter- an Burt Reynolds, Oscar-winner Julie Christie and Carmen Chaplin,
grand-daughter of the great Charlie, have just completed shooting The Hermit Of Amsterdam in the picturesque canal city.
Co-written (with Michael O’Laughlin) and directed by award-winning Dutch film-maker Rudolf van den Berg (Cold Light Of Day, Bastille, Goodnight Vienna), and produced by globe- trotting Pierre Spengler, it’s a romantic comedy with a “twice- upon-a-time twist.”
Reynolds stars as Larry, an American ex-pat hidden away from the world and his past in an eccentric bookshop where he dispenses advice to a stream of junkies, social misfits and other exiles.
In one of her increasingly rare film roles, Christie, 60 this year, plays Narma “a woman with a second chance”, while Chaplin, daughter of Michael Chaplin, is the mysterious Aisha who suddenly walks into Larry’s life turning it “upside down.”
As well as shooting in Amsterdam there are also locations at Ouarzazate in Morocco - previous North African host of epics ranging from Lawrence of Arabia and Jewel Of The Nile to Gladiator - and Los Angeles.
Spengler, behind such hits as The Three/Four Musketeers and Superman trilogy, said that the pro-
ject had been around for some four years before he linked up with van den Berg in August 1999.
Said Spengler: “I could see it had great potential, especially if we could get a big star but I also felt it needed one more go at the script.
“Once we had a new script, Burt Reynolds showed interest straight- away and it was the same with the actresses. It was particularly exciting to get Julie and it’s an intriguing role for her for which she has to change her usual look and put on an accent.”
The Hermit Of Amsterdam was shot on Fuji by Hungarian cinematog- rapher Gabor Szabo ASC (Shot Through The Heart, The Long Shadow), who noted he was “impressed by the new F 400 stock. The softness yet the realism of the
colours are superb.”
The production is the first from
Spengler and van den Berg’s new Cadenza Films and is currently being handled for distribution worldwide by First Look Media (formerly Overseas Filmgroup).
Spengler, who said that The Hermit
Of Amsterdam was likely to premiere later this year, added that Cadenza Films has a number of other projects in the imminent pipeline. ■ QUENTIN FALK
The Hermit Of Amsterdam
was originated on Fujicolor Motion Picture Negative
EXPOSURE • 13
Photos from top: Julie Christie and Burt Reynolds; Cinematographer Gabor Szabo ASC; Rudolf van den Berg directing Burt Reynolds (photo Jaap Vrenegoor)