1. In the 2002 Jan Bucquoy movie, "La vie politique des Belges," Duchâtelet played the role of himself
2. He likes to peel potatoes, - peeling potatoes frees his mind
3. In his opinion the city limits of Brussels should be extended all the way to Old Brabant, almost to Sint-Truiden in fact
4. According to his partner, Duchâtelet lacks emotional intelligence, - but he is getting better
5. He drives a Citreön C5
6. Soon after taking over at Standard Liege, he paid himself a handsome 20m Euro dividend
7. He once received a bullet in the post
8. He thinks that Belgium should become part of Germany
9. In 2011 he launched his campaign to become Mayor of Sint-Truiden but failed
10. In 2010 he wound-up his failed digital media company - TV Lokaal
11. In 2008 his failed political party Vivant climbed into bed with the Flanders Liberal Democrats (VLD)
12. And last, - but by no means least,
6
Comments
I kid you not!
A movie financed by Duchâtelet and released in 2002. The story:
The election preparations of two political parties, Vivant and Tarte: Vivant is new, and their leader has to train the candidates and teach them how to explain the ideology of the basic-income during meetings. He is a multimillionaire (Duchâtelet plays himself), and he directs his party in a authoritarian way, he is also funding the campaign. On the other hand, Tarte is a party that does not do anything to attract the sympathy of the public and are more like clowns than serious politicians. They claim to have no program, to represent nobody and, if successful, promise to be totally irresponsible. Their leader, Noël Godin is the world-famous writer who threw a pie in the face of Bill Gates. They are against all authority and they proclaim complete freedom for everyone. The film shows something of Belgian politics in a funny way, but the lessons one can learn from it apply for all countries and questions the point of starting a new political party.
Some reviews:
- It is said that, as a film maker, Jan Bucquoy is increasingly moving into marginality, and that quality of his films is becoming increasingly poor. 'La Vie Politique des Belges' is an absolute low point. Who cares about a stupidly portrayed, unassumingly assembled and completely outdated (the recordings of '99), video documentary about Ronald Duchâtelet (Vivant) and pie cheetah Noël Godin, - two marginal figures from Belgian politics who have little to tell? Shortened to five minutes, 'La Vie Politique des Belges' might have provided a ludicrous item for 'Villa Politica', but as a long-term player this is a shattering hit in the water.
- I must say that when I saw this movie for the first time I was surprised how much effort had been made to launch a new party like "Vivant". In the movie we see the members in classrooms listening to the explanations of their leader the billionaire Roland Duchâtelet who teaches like an university professor. Belgium needs this global approach while it is such a little country. The elections didn't change anything and the results for "Vivant" were very poor. The political life of the Belgians is a satire of the Belgians and their conservative politics where nothing ever changes. It is also universal because everywhere in the world you see that a global approach is more and more a must but some people tend to work against this fact. The world is becoming a village and local politicians should be more aware of this.
- In the Kingdom of Belgium, two parties are opposing each other. "Vivant" founded by a very rich man, wants to give a minimum wage for everybody and "Tarte" founded by Noël Godin who allows his adherents to throw pies at famous people like Bill Gates. We see their discussions and their pursuit of new ideas to construct an utopian and idealized society.
A candidate for next years Charlton & Woolwich film festival perhaps?
No doubt RD saw something in the traditionally reserved, guarded and financially secretive Swiss that he liked. He didn't do it though so presumably Grasshoppers or whoever ever else had a lucky escape depending upon how you view the Duchatelet ownership experience/experiment.
NV België, verslag aan de aandeelhouders "Joint stock company Belgium, a report to the share holders" published in 1994 and De weg naar meer netto binnenlands geluk "The road to more net domestic happiness" published in 2004. There appears to be no online review of these masterpieces, so I'm assuming nobody read them or even bought them and are probably stockpiled in his shed.
We are so SO lucky....