
Film
Elias or the Fight with the Nightingales
1991 · 1h 20m · Drama
- IMDb
- 6.9
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Overview
Set on the eve of World War I, this poetic coming-of-age drama follows Elias, a sensitive twelve-year-old dreamer living on an isolated country estate. Raised by an eccentric, overprotective family detached from reality, Elias finds refuge in nature and his vivid imagination to escape his internal struggles. His fragile childhood bubble is shattered when he learns he will soon be sent away to a strict boarding school. During his final summer at home, Elias experiences a bittersweet emotional awakening shaped by three relatives: his older cousin and close companion Aloysius, his young cousin Hermine, who harbors a subtle infatuation for him, and his beautiful, melancholic Aunt Henriette, who serves as a dramatic muse. Based on Maurice Gilliams’ modernist classic, the film is a nostalgic, melancholic portrait of a boy forced to leave his idyllic fantasies behind and face the adult world.
Cast
Brikke Smets
Elias
Jimmi de Koning
Aloysius

Lotte Pinoy
Hermine

Bien de Moor
Tante Henriette

Viviane de Muynck
Tante Zenobie
Roland Ramaekers
Oom Augustin
Toon Brouwers
Vader
Marie-Louise Conings
Huishoudster
Mia Van Roy
Moeder
Cara Van Wersch
Grootmoeder
Crew
- Klaas RusticusDirector
- Maurice GilliamsNovel
- Hans OttenProducer
- Willem ThijssenProducer
- Jan VancaillieDirector of Photography
- Peter RumpEditor
Media
Details
- Release date
- June 13, 1991
- Status
- Released
- Original language
- Dutch
- Runtime
- 1h 20m
- Genres
- Drama
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