18/09/2008

I’ve Loved You So Long [+see also:
trailer
film profile], the directorial debut of French novelist Philippe Claudel, is a hit with Dutch audiences. After its premiere at the Berlinale in February and its successful late-March release in France, with almost 940,000 tickets sold, it has now crossed the 100,000 barrier in the Netherlands.

Dutch audiences have embraced the French-language film, which casts Kristin Scott-Thomas and Elsa Zylberstein as sisters who try to reconnect after the elder sister (Scott Thomas) returns to the family fold after 15 years in prison for a heinous crime.

The film, which is distributed in the Netherlands by Benelux Film Distributors, will start its 16th week on release today, and is still playing on over 20 screens. The total box office figures for the entire Benelux have surpassed €1m.

Claudel, who is a bestselling novelist in the Low Countries, commented: “I am very impressed with the success of the film on Dutch screens. Perhaps we can take this to mean that this story and the way I have told it, with the help of cast and crew, touches something universally human, not something bound to any specific language or culture.”

For a couple of years now, French films have regained in popularity in the Netherlands, though passing the 100,000 mark is still rare. The last film to achieve such a wide success was the Edith Piaf biopic La Vie en Rose [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

French films currently playing include Welcome to the Sticks [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Her Name is Sabine [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], while the following films will be released before year’s end: Sagan [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Versailles [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Geraldine Michelot
interview: Pierre Schoeller
film profile], The Class [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carole Scotta
interview: Laurent Cantet
film profile], Vinyan [+see also:
trailer
film profile], God’s Offices [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Mark of an Angel [+see also:
trailer
film profile].

Claudel’s film will be released in the UK next week, in the US in October and in Germany in November.