| Kleine
Teun (Little Tony)
Alex van Warmerdam The Netherlands
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| Alex van Warmerdam set out to rid his latest film of everything superfluous
to the story. Hence when he is asked to provide a summary he replies that
it is simply a tale of three characters and a farm.
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| Of course there is more to it than this. An intricate three-cornered
relationship develops as an illiterate farmer, Brand, falls in love with
his teacher, Lena. His wife, Keet, encourages and manipulates the relationship,
leading it towards a dramatic conclusion.
The eventual murder victim was decided just prior to the first performance of the original stage play. "I knew someone had to die," comments van Warmerdam. "The rest was finished, but I still didn't know who was going to get the chop. I asked the actors in turn to kill one another with a broomstick until I saw the version that was credible to me. Just by looking." Kleine Teun (Little Tony) is van Warmerdam's fourth film, after Abel (1986), The Northerners (1992) and The Dress (1996). "It is my dream to make a film that is as light as a feather," he explained in a recent interview. "It's my fear of profundity that often makes me give my texts a laconic touch. I don't like pure seriousness." He always aims to shoot in an economic style. "You never see somebody switching off a computer or pouring a cup of coffee in my films... [these are] actors' tricks to win an Oscar." Producer Marc van Warmerdam has observed a shift in his brother's filmmaking style. "There is nothing extraneous within it and, unlike with Alex's other films, there is enormous scope to be moved emotionally. After I watched the first rough cut I sat in my seat hoping for the lights to stay out a little longer." Nick Cunningham |
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