Erwin Olaf

10:30, Color, Stereo, NL, 2010
In a number of his films Erwin Olaf serves up perfect worlds in which dazzlingly beautiful people in crease-resistant clothing move through sublime interiors, unapproachable and emotionless. There’s not a blemish in sight, until Olaf himself introduces cracks in this perfect surface. That is also what happens in ‘La Tristesse Riche’. Like the Italian filmmaker Luchino Visconti, to whom this film is an homage, Olaf has a profound feeling for detail and style. The film promises to be a costume drama, but rapidly changes course.