Leonie, Actress and Spy

The successful photographer Diane is in Rome for a photo assignment, but seems mostly to be looking for Giovanni, an old acquaintance and probably a lover. Against the backdrop of the political situation, which is strained due to the attacks by the Red Brigades, Diane and Giovanni hopelessly pass each other by.

An unlikely friendship blossoms between Elsa, a preppy, idle, spoiled blond who calls herself Gino, and Nina, a wannabe anarchist who plots with three others to blow up an arms factory. Nina is often sour and tempestuous, but with Gino she's spontaneous and funny. Yet the friendship often founders, as the feckless Gino spoils Nina's frequent and demanding plans. They decide to rob Gino's rich uncle to pay for bombs and creature comforts, they sneak into a stranger's house, they steal a painting belonging to one of Gino's boyfriends, bombs fail to explode, and Gino costs Nina the trust of her anarchist pals. Then comes the crocodile test, the ultimate for any friendship.

With the book The Waves by Virginia Woolf as point of departure, the film follows six characters trying to recapture the feeling of harmony they knew as children. They meet each other in a restaurant at a farewell dinner for Percival, who is leaving for India. When he dies through an accident in India, the group falls apart.

Kees (Ramsey Nasr) is a gently eccentric loner who takes his imaginary dog for a walk each evening and likes to listen in on his neighbors' conversations. He is lonely. He has no real family, as his father is dead and his mother is institutionalized. However, when the chronically unemployed Kees gets a job at a bank, many of his co-workers don't know what to make of him, and scarcely anyone talks to him -- until the day someone comments on a photo in his wallet. Though he doesn't actually know the woman in the picture, Kees tells them the woman in the photo is his girlfriend and starts spinning tales about their "relationship." Before long, Kees has invented an entire alternate personality and is stealing photos from others to fit the new "friends" and "family" he's created.

A nuanced portrait of the (Amsterdam) police which portrays not only the police as an institution, but also individual officers. Issues raised include: ethnic profiling, lack of influence by neighbourhood officers, the role of women within the police force and the question of whether the police sometimes use excessive force, for example during the clearance of squats by the ME (Riot Police) in Amsterdam’s Kinkerbuurt neighbourhood, where defenceless locals were beaten by officers with batons.

The film presents regular Stadsjournaal actor Gerard Thoolen as a rebellious cyclist gallivanting around the streets of Amsterdam performing anarchic stunts on his bicycle. He clumsily cuts up cars, kicks their wingmirrors off, generally torments motorists and takes part in a bicycle race on his heavy ride. When his black gentleman’s bike gets stuck in the tram rails, he angrily grabs a pneumatic drill.

The importance of the Atelier as a meeting and working-place for independent or beginning filmmakers is highlighted in Last days of Studio Frans van de Staak a necrology of his films by Kees Hin (2002), which focuses mainly on Van de Staak's non-naturalistic style of directing actors.