The Cinematheque

Belgium

“A great cinematic circus … [Also] a burlesque tragedy, in the proper sense of the word: a drama suffused with disconcerting and extravagant humour.”

Aurore Engelen, Cineuropa

This droll dramedy revolves around Jan, a provocative artist in his late fifties who has known various degrees of success and failure with his art, the women in his life, and his modest attempts to change the world. Marie, his only daughter, blames him for never being around while she was growing up. A part-time stripper now mired in a deep depression, Marie is wondering if life is worth living at all. Reunited with his daughter at this critical juncture, Jan resolves to try to keep her dark thoughts at bay by telling her a wealth of stories about life and love and everything in between. A tough and tender father-daughter drama, The Last Temptation of the Belgians is the third installment of notorious filmmaker-agitator Jan Bucquoy’s loosely autobiographical trilogy, which also includes The Sexual Life of the Belgians (1994) and Camping Cosmos (1996). Unique and unforgettable.

In French and Dutch with English subtitles

“An offbeat freewheeling comedy—think Fellini goes to Belgium … A film that [will] make you laugh precisely where it hurts.”

Festival du nouveau cinéma (Montreal)