28/11/2008

One of the most notable faces among the supporting players in continental European cinema, Luxembourg actor Thierry van Werveke, is celebrated in the new documentary InThierryView. The film, directed by Andy Bausch, will be released in the Grand Duchy today.

Bausch, who plucked the then-unknown lad from behind a bar in 1979 and who has used him in all his projects since, here creates a kaleidoscopic look at the actor using old as well as new material.

Newly filmed interview footage, including some comical meta-referencing scenes, as well as countless extracts of the 50-year-old’s extensive filmography (over 80 titles) and home-video footage of his theatre and rock performances make for a diverse and always interesting portrait of not only the actor’s career but also his highly eventful life.

Bausch, Van Werveke himself and the many other interviewees – including Til Schweiger, Moritz Bleibtreu, Michael Haneke and Sascha Ley – never shy away from discussing the protagonist’s problems with drugs and alcohol. Since a health scare prompted the making of this documentary, there is also an element of both nostalgia and urgency at work.

Besides his utterly big-hearted personality and breathtaking presence, his excesses are arguably a large part of what have made him such as icon in a generally staid country. Van Werveke has never shed his rebel attitude, and many of his roles, including his breakout role in the cult hit Troublemaker have played up this image. How much he is loved by Luxembourgers is clear by the nickname he has in the country: “National Thierry,” as if he were a kind of national treasure.

Inthierryview was produced by Paul Thiltges for his company PTD, who also distribute the film.