Ruud van Hemert | |
|---|---|
 Ruud van Hemert in 1973 | |
| Born | (1938-10-29)29 October 1938 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | 5 July 2012(2012-07-05) (aged 73) Wapserveen, Netherlands |
| Occupation(s) | Film and television director |
| Years active | 1971–2004 |
Ruud van Hemert (29 October 1938 – 5 July 2012)[1] was a Dutchfilm director known especially for (dark) comedy. In the 1970s he helped produce and direct TV shows onVPRO before starting a career as a film director.
Ruud van Hemert was the son of television producerWilly van Hemert, and followed in his father's footsteps, making two television films for theVPRO,TV-Eiland (1965),[2] andPepijn op wieletjes ("a children's film for and about naughty children"[3] conceived byHans Andreus, followed by a few other children's shows, withHarrie Geelen.[4] A breakthrough was the (stylistically experimental) documentaryOranje Vrijstaat, which had controversial politicianRoel van Duijn as a central figure. His career took off when he cooperated withWim T. Schippers,Gied Jaspars, andWim van der Linden on such shows asDe Fred Hachéshow (1971),Barend is weer bezig (1972–1973), andVan Oekel's Discohoek (1974),[5] a series of TV shows that are credited with changing Dutch television forever by destroying it as a medium for serious and proper programming.[4]
Van Hemert was already 46[5] when he made his debut as a film director in 1984 with the filmSchatjes! ("Darlings"), one of the biggest box-office hits in Dutch cinema. InSchatjes!, a dark family comedy, guerrilla warfare between disturbed parents (Peter Faber andGeert de Jong [nl]) and their disruptive children leads to chaos and mayhem[4][6] (at the end of the film, the parents are buried, in their car, under a layer of asphalt); the film drew 1.5 million visitors (some 10% of the Dutch population), making it one of the most successful Dutch films ever.[5] Van Hemert followed up with a sequel in 1986,Mama is boos! [nl] ("Momma is angry"),[7] another commercial success with 2 million tickets sold.[5]Variety noted that while the anti-bourgeois mentality of the TV shows he did for the VPRO was maintained in the films, van Hemert himself said he was influenced more strongly by Hollywood cinema.[8] Dutch films of the period were generally influenced by Hollywood; other "Hollands Hollywood" productions wereDick Maas'sDe Lift (1983) andFlodder (1986).[9]
1988'sHonneponnetje, a follow-up toSchatjes! andMama is boos, was not well received by critics—it was "no more than a thousandfold-retold wet dream from a frustrated teenager".[5] His career did not fare well during the 1990s, when he was unable to get financing for his scripts. He built a house in Spain and taught acting. He returned, with some success,[10] in 2001 withI Love You Too, based on a novel byRonald Giphart (141,257 visitors),[11] and in 2004 his last film,Feestje! [nl] (77,399 visitors).[7][12] His career, however, went downhill. He wrote about his frustrations with the film industry in a book calledBruut, and retired to Spain. In 2008 he survived prostate cancer, but in 2011 he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of throat cancer[13] and he died the year after,[7] at the house of friends inWapserveen.[14]
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