Steven van Galen

After debuting in 1983 with Casta Diva, Eric de Kuyper immediately made Naughty Boys in 1984, a film that he himself described as “a sad musical comedy” in which he pays homage to the old musicals and comedies. The film is set in an unspecified time, somewhere between both World Wars in a large English country house. Six gentlemen in dinner jackets try to maintain the atmosphere of a party that has just ended. Naughty Boys was the second film De Kuyper made with friends and students, but here for the first time they were joined by a “professional” actress, Linda Polan.

A satire about the difficult way films are made in the Netherlands. The focus is on the painstaking way in which aspiring filmmakers, have to see the script in hand, grants and funds available.

The story about Jan visiting his grandfather for the last time during the summer in a little village in Drenthe. Thanks to Jan, his grandfather decides to do what he never dared during his entire life. Jan, as an outsider, is some sort of spectator of the life in the village, although he is also involved in that life.