Eldorado (2008 film)

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Eldorado
Eldorado-2008-movie poster.png
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Bouli Lanners
Written byBouli Lanners
Produced by Jacques-Henri Bronckart
Starring Bouli Lanners
Fabrice Adde
Philippe Nahon
Cinematography Jean-Paul De Zaeytijd
Edited by Ewin Ryckaert
Music byKoen Gisen
Renaud Mayeur
An Pierlé
Release dates
  • 18 May 2008 (2008-05-18)(Cannes Film Festival)
  • 4 June 2008 (2008-06-04)(Belgium)
  • 18 June 2008 (2008-06-18)(France)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryBelgium
LanguageFrench
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.

Contents

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

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)

Cannes Film Festival

Nominated

Gijón International Film Festival

Filmfest Hamburg

César Awards

Filmfare Awards

Cannes Film Festival

References

  1. ↑ "Eldorado (2008) - JPBox-Office". www.jpbox-office.com.
  2. ↑ 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.
  3. ↑ "Eldorado". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved April 23, 2025. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  4. ↑ ""Eldorado" : la Belgique, ses grands espaces, ses virées en Chevrolet" (in French). 2008-06-17. pp. Le Monde. Retrieved 2025-11-05.
  5. 1 2 3 "Eldorado: l'actualité du Cinéma". Les Inrocks (in French). Archived from the original on 2008-07-15. Retrieved 2025-11-05.
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