The Arrival of Joachim Stiller

1976·153'

★ 6.5

Letterboxd TMDB #94674

Stiller starts where knowing stops.

An Antwerp journalist finds his daily life increasingly disrupted by unexplained phenomena, such as an authentic letter from 1919 that refers to an event taking place at a much later date. Because these disturbances are consistently linked to the name “Joachim Stiller,” the journalist becomes obsessed with it. The resolution, which is closely tied to his traumatic experiences from the Second World War, takes place with a psychiatrist—and later at an abandoned railway station in an Antwerp suburb. Interwoven with this is a subplot about an Antwerp art dealer who believes he can become rich through a new form of painting. To achieve this, he takes a mentally disabled artist hostage. The narrative also follows various romantic entanglements involving the journalist, which ultimately lead to his happy experience of fatherhood.

Cast

Hugo Metsers Freek Groenevelt

Cox Habbema Simone Marijnissen

Willeke van Ammelrooy Lily

Ward de Ravet Wiebrand Zijlstra

Charles Janssens Siegfried

Dora van der Groen Madame Frans

Raf Reymen Direkteur lijkenhuis

Joan Remmelts Andreas Colijn

Peter Strynckx Joachim Stiller

Gaston Vandermeulen Schepen Keldermans

Bert André Morgue Assistant

Jo De Meyere Secretary