Jos Stelling - Dutch director: biography, filmography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Jos Stelling is a director, screenwriter and producer from the Netherlands. The world community knows his films "The Girl and Death" and "The Illusionist". What do you know about Dutch cinema? Northern Europe has developed its own special attitude towards cinema. European films are not like either Russian or Hollywood films. Northern European directors have their own distinct style.

Jos Stelling is the most Dutch director of all living there. His style in cinema is unlike any known. In 2007, the film "Dushka" with Sergei Makovetsky in the title role was released in Russia. This film was directed by Jos Stelling.

Biography: early years

The future director was born on July 16, 1945 in the city of Utrecht in the Netherlands. His parents were the most ordinary people, his father was a baker by profession. Yos, like all children, went to school, played with other boys in the yard. Once, when the boy was nine years old, he found a 35 mm film on the street. The film was stuck together from water and unusable. Jos kept his find in a box and did not show it to anyone. Sometimes when someoneWhen anyone was interested in the contents of the box, he began to invent and tell the stories that he said were stored in the box.

At the school where the future director studied, on Sundays films of famous masters of Italian cinema were shown. With each new film, the boy fell more and more in love with cinema. Subsequently, it was the Italian film school that would have the greatest influence on Stelling's work.

After graduating from school, Yos decided to study to be a director. In the Netherlands at that time there were no educational institutions providing such education. The guy had no choice but to study the history and basics of cinema on his own.

First films

When the guy learned the basics of cinema, he decided to make his own film by all means. He had a script and a great desire, but there was no money and equipment. As actors in the film, the novice director invited his friends. This is how Jos's first feature film, Mariken of Nijmegen, was shot. The film was released in 1974. At the box office, the picture paid off and attracted the attention of the audience. Quite unexpectedly for everyone, Stelling's creation also made it into the main program of the Cannes Film Festival.

Inspired by the success of the newly minted Dutch director took on the next film. In 1975, the film "Elkerlik" was released. He was also filmed with a low budget and non-professional actors. This time, the public reacted to the picture rather sluggishly, despite the loud name of the director after the Cannes Film Festival - JosStelling.

The films that the director made next were already with a solid budget and with professional actors. In 1977, the picture "Rembrandt. Portrait 1669" was released. A film about the life of a famous artist was warmly received by film critics and even received several awards.

Illusionist

In 1983, the film "The Illusionist" by Jos Stelling was released. This picture made the director famous all over the world because of its unusualness. There are almost no conversations in the film. A lot of importance is given to the atmosphere in which the main action takes place. Jos carefully chose the colors and music for each scene, resulting in something truly mesmerizing. The director will actively use the technique of working with music and color from The Illusionist in his subsequent works.

Yos tells his viewers that the dialogue is not very appropriate in the movie. Cinematography, in his opinion, is closer in its form to music than to literature. Conversations are born of the mind, they are usually balanced and deliberate. Stelling likes to shoot what is born in the heart, and not in the brain, feelings, not the mind. Jos believes that other directors should pay more attention to feelings in their films, follow the music of the heart.

The film "The Illusionist" won the "Golden Calf" award in the "Best Film" category at the Netherlands Film Festival. Critics also really liked the newthe creation of a master.

At the peak of my career

The pinnacle of the master's creativity at the moment is considered to be the films that Stelling shot immediately after The Illusionist. These are the painting "Switchman", released in 1986 and the painting "Flying Dutchman", released in 1995. These two works, according to leading film critics, are among the hundred best films in the history of cinema.

Switchman

"Switchman" tells viewers the story of a man who works as a switchman on a railroad. He spends his life alone until a lost passenger appears near his house. She moves in with the switchman and turns his world upside down. "The Switchman" was so well liked by European film critics that it not only received a lot of positive reviews in the press, but also earned a special mention at the Venice Film Festival.

Flying Dutchman

The painting "Flying Dutchman" is not like the other works of Jos, it is distinguished by its grandiose scale. There are a lot of characters, quite a lot of dialogue. The action of the picture takes place in the 16th century, during the Inquisition. The Flying Dutchman in the film is not a ship, but a person. The film shows the story of his journey, the story of overcoming obstacles and vicissitudes of fate, the story of achieving his goal. The main theme of the film is loneliness. Jos Stelling often says in interviews that he has been making not different films, but the same film all his life. The main theme of all his works is preciselyloneliness.

"The Flying Dutchman" was nominated for the "Golden Lion" at the Venice Film Festival, but did not receive an award.

Late works

The film "No trains, no planes" was released in 1999. The audience well received this picture of the Dutch director. Critics described the work as a "comedy of the absurd" due to grotesque characters, bright colors in the frame and special music.

In 2007, the movie "Darling" was released. This is a picture of a joint production of Belgium, Russia, the Netherlands and Ukraine. In the CIS countries, this film was received very positively, not only thanks to the wonderful direction of Jos, but also to the talented acting of the actor Sergei Makovetsky, who played the main role in the film. Many Russian and Ukrainian actors were involved in the filming of the picture.

Film critics did not leave "Darling" without attention. The film was nominated for several prestigious awards, including the European Academy of Film Awards.

In 2012, cooperation between Russia and the Netherlands in the field of film production continued. Jos Stelling's new film "The Girl and Death" is coming out. Director Jos Stelling later calls this work "a bow to Russian literature".

"The Girl and Death" is the last picture of the Dutch genius to date. Stelling has yet to talk about new films. Now, for a film director, this is not a job, but rather a hobby, or, as he himself says on this topic:"Cinema is heaven."