Eldorado (2008 film)
| Eldorado | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Bouli Lanners |
| Written by | Bouli Lanners |
| Produced by | Jacques-Henri Bronckart |
| Starring | Bouli Lanners Fabrice Adde Philippe Nahon |
| Cinematography | Jean-Paul De Zaeytijd |
| Edited by | Ewin Ryckaert |
| Music by | Koen Gisen Renaud Mayeur An Pierlé |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 80 minutes |
| Country | Belgium |
| Language | French |
| Box office | $1.1 million[1] |
Eldorado is a 2008 Belgian absurdist road tragicomedy film directed by Bouli Lanners and selected for the Directors’ Fortnight (40th anniversary) 61st Cannes Film Festival 2008. The film received the André Cavens Award for Best Film by the Belgian Film Critics Association (UCC). It was the official entry from Belgium for the 81st Academy Awards, but was not chosen as one of the films to be nominated during the ceremony.
It was filmed in Wallonia.
It had the working title California Carwash and was based on an incident from Lanners's past.[2]
Plot
Yvan (Bouli Lanners), a used car salesman, comes home late one evening to his house in the Belgian countryside. He discovers that a burglar (Fabrice) has just broken into his house and is hiding under his bed. When the burglar tries to escape, Yvan knocks him over by throwing a metal pipe at him. Upon confronting him, he discovers that the burglar is a young man in need of money to fuel his drug addiction. Yvan decides to help this young man, who says his names is Elie, by not turning him over to the police and by giving him a little money for the road. Finally, out of pity and remembering his own brother who had died of an overdose, Yvan decides to drive Elie, at his request, to the home of his parents in southern Belgium. Thus begins a journey across Wallonia, on which they face unsettling encounters with random people and humorous situations.
Cast
- Bouli Lanners : Yvan
- Fabrice Adde : Elie/Didier
- Philippe Nahon : The collector
- Françoise Chichéry : Elie's mother
- Didier Toupy : The naturist Alain Delon
- Stefan Liberski : A mechanic
- Baptiste Isaïa : Another mechanic
- Jean-Jacques Rausin : A biker
- Renaud Rutten : Another biker
- Jean-Luc Meekers : The car distributor
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 69% of 16 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.2/10.[3]
Analysis
Eldorado is a burlesque and melancholic road movie in the tradition of the absurd and Belgian surrealism,[4][5] which depicts (Bouli Lanners was a painter before making films),[5] through saturated colors, CinemaScope format images, a modern western using many lateral tracking shots and situational gags depicting an intense relationship between two men lost in their respective lives and doomed to an inevitably dark end.[5]
Accolades
Won
Belgian Film Critics Association (UCC)
- Best Film
- Label Europe Cinemas
- Regards Jeune prize
- FIPRESCI prize
Nominated
Gijón International Film Festival
- Best Film
- Art Cinema award
- Young Talent award
- Best Foreign Film (lost to Waltz with Bashir)
- Best Foreign film
- C.I.C.A.E. award
References
- ^ "Eldorado (2008) - JPBox-Office". www.jpbox-office.com.
- ^ Crousse, Nicolas (24 July 2007). "Le cinema povera de Bouli Lanners". Le Soir. Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
- ^ "Eldorado". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
- ^ ""Eldorado" : la Belgique, ses grands espaces, ses virées en Chevrolet" (in French). 2008-06-17. pp. Le Monde. Retrieved 2025-11-05.
- ^ a b c "Eldorado: l'actualité du Cinéma". Les Inrocks (in French). Archived from the original on 2008-07-15. Retrieved 2025-11-05.