Flodder
Original post date: 26 May 1987
Rating: ✭✭✰✰
One of my very favorite movies at the 1984 Seattle film festival was a nifty little thriller from Holland called The Lift, about a malevolent elevator that didn’t like human beings. (“Take the stairs! For God’s sake! Take the stairs!”) Well, the director of that movie (Dick Maas) has written, directed, co-produced, and even composed the music for another movie which has now become the biggest money-making film in The Netherlands. The premise is somewhat reminiscent of The Beverly Hillbillies. The Flodder family is a real estate agent’s nightmare. They’re the lewdest, crudest, rudest bunch of white trash on either side of the Atlantic. Mother is a bedraggled hulk of a woman, always dressed in a housecoat, and perpetually dangling a cigar from her mouth. Her brood of several kids (each one apparently by a different father) include Johnny, a James Dean for the eighties; Tracy, a pervert of a son; and Tracy (I guess it’s hard for a mother to think up names all the time), a comely daughter who wears hot pants that almost aren’t there. When it’s discovered that the Flodders’ tenement of a hovel is located on top of an old chemical dump, the city is obliged to find them a new home. It turns out the only neighborhood where the family isn’t already infamous is a posh development called Sunnydale, which is populated by lawyers, doctors, their snooty wives, and their cute little pets. The stage is set for a clash of class and trash. This movie is reminiscent of Blake Edwards’ better films, with one slapstick set-up after another, car chases down quiet suburban streets and cul-de-sacs, and a climactic party where anything can and does happen. It’s easy to see why this was a big moneymaker. If it catches on in the States, it could be Holland’s Crocodile Dundee.
Rating: ✭✭✰✰
One of my very favorite movies at the 1984 Seattle film festival was a nifty little thriller from Holland called The Lift, about a malevolent elevator that didn’t like human beings. (“Take the stairs! For God’s sake! Take the stairs!”) Well, the director of that movie (Dick Maas) has written, directed, co-produced, and even composed the music for another movie which has now become the biggest money-making film in The Netherlands. The premise is somewhat reminiscent of The Beverly Hillbillies. The Flodder family is a real estate agent’s nightmare. They’re the lewdest, crudest, rudest bunch of white trash on either side of the Atlantic. Mother is a bedraggled hulk of a woman, always dressed in a housecoat, and perpetually dangling a cigar from her mouth. Her brood of several kids (each one apparently by a different father) include Johnny, a James Dean for the eighties; Tracy, a pervert of a son; and Tracy (I guess it’s hard for a mother to think up names all the time), a comely daughter who wears hot pants that almost aren’t there. When it’s discovered that the Flodders’ tenement of a hovel is located on top of an old chemical dump, the city is obliged to find them a new home. It turns out the only neighborhood where the family isn’t already infamous is a posh development called Sunnydale, which is populated by lawyers, doctors, their snooty wives, and their cute little pets. The stage is set for a clash of class and trash. This movie is reminiscent of Blake Edwards’ better films, with one slapstick set-up after another, car chases down quiet suburban streets and cul-de-sacs, and a climactic party where anything can and does happen. It’s easy to see why this was a big moneymaker. If it catches on in the States, it could be Holland’s Crocodile Dundee.
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