Dutch writer-director Max Porcelijn has become a great favorite here at ScreenAnarchy, his blend of dark humor, rich characters and sly subversion of genre principles inviting comparison to the likes of the Coen Brothers. His debut feature,
Plan C, won a pair of Dutch Golden Calf Awards - the local equivalent of the Oscars - along with a pair of Next Wave prizes at Fantastic Fest and he follows that up now with
The Glorious Works Of G.F. Zwaen, freshly announced to World Premiere at Fantastic Fest.
It's the late 1990s and business is booming. Booming, at least, for
everyone other than Gerard Zwaen. But this is how Zwaen wants it. This
is how things should be. For Zwaen is a writer, and a true artist works
for the art and not financial gain.
But being an artist was easier when the reviews were still positive. It
was easier still before Zwaen's wife threw him out of the house, forcing
him to fend for himself. He could stay with his mistress, perhaps - an
artist always has a mistress - but she doesn't have the room. So while
Zwaen may not yet be penniless and homeless, he certainly finds himself
on the road to being so, and the "struggling artist" type is not nearly
as appealing in middle age as it was in college.
And so Zwaen must do the only thing one can do when faced with the
uncomfortable reality that one is a financial incompetent and completely
unable to tend to one's own needs: He must visit his accountant. Which
would be far simpler if his accountant wasn't lying dead on the floor,
shot, possibly by one of the two other dead men laying strewn across the
floor along with an assortment of weapons and a bag stuffed full of
cash...
Porcelijn again plays with the rules of the crime noir here and the results are pretty damn fantastic. Want a taste? We're proud to premiere the English subtitled trailer for the film below. Check it out.