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Elias or the Fight with the Nightingales (1991)
Directed by Klaas Rusticus
Drama · 1h 20m
Set on the eve of World War I, this poetic coming-of-age drama follows Elias, a sensitive twelve-year-old dreamer living on an isolated country estate. Raised by an eccentric, overprotective family detached from reality, Elias finds refuge in nature and his vivid imagination to escape his internal struggles. His fragile childhood bubble is shattered when he learns he will soon be sent away to a strict boarding school. During his final summer at home, Elias experiences a bittersweet emotional awakening shaped by three relatives: his older cousin and close companion Aloysius, his young cousin Hermine, who harbors a subtle infatuation for him, and his beautiful, melancholic Aunt Henriette, who serves as a dramatic muse. Based on Maurice Gilliams’ modernist classic, the film is a nostalgic, melancholic portrait of a boy forced to leave his idyllic fantasies behind and face the adult world.
Cast
Lotte Pinoy
Bien de Moor
Viviane de Muynck
Crew
- Director
- Klaas Rusticus
- Novel
- Maurice Gilliams
- Director of Photography
- Jan Vancaillie
- Editor
- Peter Rump
- Producer
- Hans Otten, Willem Thijssen
Details
- Original title
- Elias of het gevecht met de nachtegalen
- Release date
- 1991-06-13
- Runtime
- 1h 20m
- Genres
- Drama
- Original language
- NL
- Spoken languages
- Dutch
- Countries
- Belgium, Netherlands
- Production
- CinéTé bvba, CinéTé Amsterdam, Belgische Radio en Televisie, Nederlandse Omroepstichting (NOS)