Ex Drummer

Ex Drummer is a 2007 Belgian black comedy and rock music film directed by Koen Mortier,[1] whose previous work was limited to television commercials. It is based on the 1994 book by Herman Brusselmans of the same name. While receiving mixed reviews at the time, it went on to become a cult film.[2]

Ex Drummer
Screenshot from Ex Drummer
Directed byKoen Mortier
Produced byKoen Mortier
Eurydice Gysel
Written byHerman Brusselmans
Koen Mortier
StarringDries Van Hegen
Norman Baert
Music byArno Hintjens
Flip Kowlier
Millionaire
Guy Van Nueten
Distributed byCCCP (Belgium)
Release date
  • 7 November 2007 (2007-11-07)
Running time
90 min.
CountryBelgium
LanguageDutch

Plot

In Ostend, West Flanders, three physically disabled musicians are looking for a drummer for their punk rock band. They want to perform only one time at a music competition. They approach famous writer Dries to be their drummer, the idea being that he also has a "handicap" in that he cannot actually play the drums. They plan to master only one song, Devo's "Mongoloid." For Dries, this is an opportunity to get some inspiration for a new novel, so he accepts the offer. The band members decide to call the band The Feminists, since, they think four "handicapped" musicians are just as worthless as a group of feminists. Their main opponents are the band Harry Mulisch (an allusion to Harry Mulisch), also led by a writer, nicknamed Dikke Lul ("Fat Cock"). As the story goes on Dries becomes more and more obsessed by his new novel and he tries to manipulate the band members and tries to find their weak spot.

Cast
  • Dries Vanhegen: Dries
  • Norman Baert: Koen de Geyter
  • Sam Louwyck: Ivan Van Dorpe
  • Gunter Lamoot: Jan Verbeek
  • Tristan Versteven: Dorian
  • Dolores Bouckaert: Lio
  • Barbara Callewaert: Christine
  • François Beukelaers: Pa Verbeek
  • Bernadette Damman: Ma Verbeek
  • Jan Hammenecker: Dikke Lul

Soundtrack

The music of The Feminists was in fact performed by Belgian band Millionaire and the Harry Mulisch song was sung by Belgian singer Flip Kowlier.[3]

  1. Lightning Bolt – "2 Morro Morro Land"
  2. Madensuyu – "Papa Bear"
  3. An Pierlé & White Velvet – "Need You Now"
  4. The Tritones – "Chagrin De La Mer"
  5. Mogwai – "Hunted by a Freak"
  6. The Experimental Tropic Blues Band – "Mexico Dream Blues"
  7. Flip Kowlier – "De Grotste Lul Van 't Stad"
  8. Millionaire – "Mongoloid"
  9. Isis - "In Fiction"
  10. Isis – "Grinning Mouths"
  11. Arno Hintjens – "Een Boeket Met Pissebloemen"
  12. Augusta National Golf Club – "People in Pairs"
  13. Mel Dune – "Time Hangs Heavy on Your Hands"
  14. Ghinzu – "Blow"
  15. Funeral Dress – "Hello from the Underground"
  16. Millionaire – "Deep Fish"
  17. Blutch – "Moving Ground"[4]

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 44% based on 18 reviews, with an average rating of 4.81/10.[5] On Metacritic, the film has a rating of 36 out of 100 based on 4 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[6] In Belgium it caused some controversy due to the violence and explicit sex in the film.

Awards
  • Fant-Asia Film Festival
    • won Jury Prize Best First Feature-Koen Mortier
  • Raindance Film Festival
    • won Jury Prize Debut Feature-Koen Mortier
  • Warsaw International Film Festival
    • won Special Jury Award-Koen Mortier
  • Rotterdam International Film Festival
    • Tiger Award-Koen Mortier

References
  1. http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=163422
  2. Brown, Todd (27 April 2010). "Cult Hit EX DRUMMER Finally Hits US DVD". Twitchfilm.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  3. Luijsterburg, Jan (20 September 2007). "Recensie Ex Drummer" [Ex Drummer review]. hifi.nl (in Dutch).
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 February 2008. Retrieved 18 September 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Ex Drummer (2011)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  6. "Ex Drummer (2011)". Metacritic. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
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