On the set of Charlotte (Frans Weisz, DE/NL/IT/GB 1980)

“I am a storyteller, and stories must go on, go on.” It is a characteristic remark from a director who was always working. Weisz kept filming throughout his life; despite intense bouts of self-doubt and self-criticism, he never abandoned the film set, and the results were often well received. His filmography includes more than thirty titles—an impressive achievement in a country that has not always had a generous film climate. 

Frans Weisz is regarded as one of the Netherlands’ most important filmmakers. In the 1960s, he helped lay the foundations for the Dutch Nouvelle Vague, made major box-office hits in the 1970s, and gained fame with film adaptations of plays and novels by writers such as Judith Herzberg, Harry Mulisch, J.J. Voskuil, and Simon Vestdijk. For the screenplays of his films and TV series, he worked with, among others, Herzberg and journalist-writer Jan Blokker.

Shaking things up

In 1958, Weisz was part of the first class of Film Academy students—including Pim de la Parra, Wim Verstappen, and Jan de Bont—who wanted to shake the sleepy Dutch film world awake. With his fresh debut Gangster Girl (screenplay by Remco Campert), he drew inspiration from the playfulness of the French Nouvelle Vague and the exuberance of Fellini—Weisz studied at the Centro Sperimentale in Rome from 1960 to 1962. Gangster Girl became a cult film, full of energy and feverish anticipation for the future.

In the 1970s, he made crowd-pleasers such as The Burglar (1972), Naked over the Fence (1973), and Red Sien (1975). Yet he increasingly longed to make more personal films, in which the legacy of the Shoah and World War II resonated (Weisz’s father, actor Géza L. Weisz, died in the camps; his mother Sara survived; Weisz spent part of the war in hiding as a young boy).

Impact

The adaptation of Judith Herzberg’s script about the life of the artist Charlotte Salomon, murdered in Auschwitz (Charlotte, 1981), marked a turning point in Weisz’s career. With Charlotte and the gently melancholic (Herzberg) trilogy Leedvermaak (1989), Qui Vive (2002), and Happy End (2009), Jewish identity became the central theme. In the newspaper Trouw, Weisz spoke about the impact of the war on his personality: “I have an enormous drive to prove myself. Everything was geared toward the idea that I would not be here, so I don’t let a single day pass without shouting: here I am! I’m still here!”

In the 1990s, Weisz alternated between cinema (including the 1995 Harry Mulisch adaptation Hoogste tijd) and television, where high-quality series such as Leedvermaak (Golden Calf), Bij nader inzien (1991, Golden Calf), and Op afbetaling (1992) stood out. Between film projects, he ventured into theatre and continued to shoot commercials praised for their visual flair, such as those for the tobacco brand Drum.

Frans Weisz & Géza Weisz on the set of Life is Beautiful (© Pief Weyman)

‘Mini-Fellini’

Weisz was repeatedly praised for his subtle direction of actors and his attention to style, mise-en-scène, and editing. Yet he constantly doubted his own abilities; the “mini-Fellini” (Ischa Meijer’s nickname for the short-statured director) wrote about this in countless personal notes, part of which were collected in the publication Frans Weisz – Diary of a Filmmaker (2023, Pluim Publishers, compiled by Harry Hosman).

In 2018, Weisz fulfilled a long-held ambition: from 1961, he had wanted to adapt Remco Campert’s novel Life is Beatiful the light, tragicomic story of the adventures of Boelie (played by Weisz’s son Géza Weisz), Mees (Reinout Scholten van Aschat), and the 15-year-old girl Panda (Romy Lauwers) in Amsterdam’s Vondelpark. Nearly sixty years later, the adaptation (with Willeke van Ammelrooij and Remco Campert in supporting roles) finally became reality. The film was popular with audiences, and Géza Weisz’s acting in particular received praise. For further reading on the work of Frans Weisz click here.