After his last film Borgman premieres in Cannes competition, we expected to see Alex van Warmerdam‘s follow-up Schneider vs. Bax among the slate, or at least a sidebar, but that doesn’t look to be the case. Nonetheless, it’ll arrive in the Netherlands in late May and we’re greatly looking forward to news of a U.S. release but in the meantime, we have the first trailer.
The story follows a hit man who is celebrating his birthday and gets tasked with a “simple job” of taking out a secluded writer who happens to be hungover. The first trailer doesn’t have hardcoded subtitles (access them on YouTube through translated CC, if you prefer), but it sets up another strange world by the director. Starring Warmerdam, Tom Dewispelaere, Maria Kraakman, Annet Malherbe, Gene Bervoets, Eva van de Wijdeven, Pierre Bokma, Henri Garcin, and Loes Haverkort, check out the trailer below, and read our interview with the director here.
Schneider, a hit man, gets a call from Mertens on the morning of his birthday. He has a rush job for Schneider who refuses it, because it is his birthday and he has promised Lucy, his wife, to help her with the preparations for the dinner party. Mertens insists that it is an important matter. When they meet in Mertens’ office, Schneider is told that the target is Ramon Bax, a writer. He lives alone in a secluded place. “It’s an easy job. With a little luck you’re back home before noon. ” Schneider accepts the assignment.
Bax, over sixty, is staying at his summer house on the edge of a lake surrounded by reeds. He is recovering from a night of drugs and alcohol. When he remembers that his daughter Francisca is coming to see him today, he heartlessly gets rid of his young mistress Nadine. Francisca arrives. She is depressed and unhappy, and her father does not know how to deal with her. He urges her to take drugs and compares her unfavorably with her sister. They quarrel and she starts to cry. Bax suppresses his discomfort with a joint, vodka and some haphazardly chosen pills. What seems to be a simple job turns out to be more than expected.
Schneider vs. Bax will likely hit the festival circuit this year following its debut next month in the Netherlands.