Johan Leysen

Acting

Johan Leysen

Born — Died

1950-02-19 — 2023-03-30

Place of birth

Hasselt, Limburg, Belgium

Known for

Acting

Credits

73 titles

Known for

Film credits

2010s · 17 titles

A Hidden Life poster
7.2

Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter faces the threat of execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis during World War II.

A Hidden Life

2019

The American poster
6.0

Dispatched to a small Italian town to await further orders, assassin Jack embarks on a double life that may be more relaxing than is good for him.

The American

2010

The Brand New Testament poster
6.7

God lives in Brussels. On Earth though, God is a coward, morally pathetic and odious to his family. His daughter, Ea, is bored at home and can't stand being locked up in a small apartment in ordinary Brussels, until the day she decides to revolt against her dad...

The Brand New Testament

2015

Claire Darling poster
5.5

On this beautiful, bright first day of summer, Claire Darling has decided to get rid of all her estate. She’s laid down all her favourite objects on her front lawn for one splendid garage sale. As a horde of curious bystanders and neighbors fights over the ridiculously underpriced antiques, each object resurrects flashes of Claire Darling’s tragic and flamboyant life. Alerted by her childhood friends, Marie Darling, Claire’s estranged daughter, is forced to come back to the family mansion to stop this sale and unveil the reasons behind her mother’s eccentric decision.

Claire Darling

2019

Above the Law poster
5.9

Frank Valken, high-flying robber, has just made a final masterful break. At least that’s what he believes… Ideal suspects, Valken and his gang find themselves involved in a criminal case of thirty years. It seems that the crazy killers are back.

Above the Law

2017

Despite the Night poster
6.2

After returning to Paris, a heartbroken man searching for his missing lover finds solace, and a passionate but troubled love, with a grieving nurse. This unconventional romance unfolds against a backdrop of music and defies expectations, venturing into uncharted emotional territory.

Despite the Night

2016

The Silence of Joan poster
3.5

In 1430, Joan of Arc, the prisoner of a powerful lord of the north of France is sold to the English. As a captive awaiting her death, she is approached by different men for whom she is believed to be the embodiment of the infinite.

The Silence of Joan

2011

Requiem for a Killer poster
5.0

Lucretia is a killer for hire. Specialised in poisoning and passionate about opera, she'll have to fulfill a difficult contract in the heart of the Swiss alps. Posing as a singer, Lucretia will have to appear on the scene of the higly exclusive Festival d'Ermeux and try to kill one of her partners: British bariton Alexander Child. Having recently acquired a Scottish distillery, he remains the only obstacle to a strategic pipeline project with considerable economic stakes; having recently won a tough legal battle against British Oil, their last resort is to eliminate him. Complicating everything is Rico, sent by the French contra-espionage, who tries to infiltrate the orchestra and stop the plot against Alexander Child.

Requiem for a Killer

2011

Zénon the Rebel poster
NR

Zénon is the hero of “The Abyss”, the famous novel by Marguerite Yourcenar published in 1968. He is also the main character in André Delvaux’s film, played by Gian Maria Volonte, for the movie adaptation of the same book in 1988. But what does Zénon represent for us today, and what has become of him? How can this entirely fictional philosopher, doctor, alchemist and inventor from the Renaissance help us understand the era in which he lived as well as our own in these uncertain times? This is what this documentary sets out to do.

Zénon the Rebel

2019

The Assistant poster
5.6

With his wife in labor, father-to-be Thomas (Malik Zidi) speeds to the hospital, and in the process, accidentally kills a young man on the road. That death sets into motion events that will change everyone’s lives forever, including the young man’s mother Marie-France (Nathalie Baye), who cannot recover from the trauma. Nine years later, Marie-France takes a job as Thomas’s secretary without him knowing about her connection to his past. As Marie-France’s maternal rage reaches tragic proportions, she insinuates herself into his life, his work and his family in this classic thriller à la Hitchcock.

The Assistant

2015

Young & Beautiful poster
6.5

Isabelle, a 17-year-old student, loses her virginity during a quick holiday romance. When she returns home, she begins a secret life as a prostitute for a year.

Young & Beautiful

2013

Obsessive Rhythms poster
5.3

On the night of New Year's Eve, a small group penetrates into the room of an old hotel in ruins. Carmine, the oldest of the group, poses a challenge to one of the men, Furio: he has 4 months to restore the hotel and inaugurate it with great pomp. Aware of the difficulties but anxious to prove the point, Furio accepts encouraged by his wife Margo who believes that this assignment will allow the couple to rediscover the lost momentum.

Obsessive Rhythms

2014

Ravachol poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Ravachol

2019

2/11 Het spel van de wolf poster
4.5

2 November 2004, shortly before nine in the morning. In The Hague, the report comes in that in Amsterdam Theo van Gogh has been murdered. All warning bells start ringing. With the country in flames, sometimes literally, politicians and officials in The Hague have to neutralise all sorts of known and unknown stings, and just when Van Gogh’s cremation seems to herald a period of relative peace, a second explosion follows: the attack on the Hofstad Network in the Laakkwartier in The Hague. A reconstruction of nine days of political high tension and flying dust, a decade after the assassination of the trendsetting filmmaker and TV presenter.

2/11 Het spel van de wolf

2014

Alone at My Wedding poster
6.1

Pamela, a young Roma, insolent, spontaneous and funny, embarks on a journey into the unknown, breaking away from the traditions that suffocate her. She arrives in Belgium with three words of French and the hope that marriage will change her and her daughter’s destiny.

Alone at My Wedding

2018

Photo poster
5.0

Her mother has just died. Her father is not what she had thought. Caught between an uncertain past, which she knows only through the photographs her mother has left behind, and the prospect of a marriage that she does not really want, Elisa sets out to discover the truth. But will she recognize it when she finds it?

Photo

2012

Souvenir poster
5.6

A former European song contest singer, fading away in a pâté factory, falls in love with a young, aspiring boxer. Together, they decide she should attempt a comeback.

Souvenir

2016

2000s · 14 titles

Brotherhood of the Wolf poster
6.7

In 18th century France, the Chevalier de Fronsac and his Native American friend Mani are sent by the King to the Gevaudan province to investigate the killings of hundreds by a mysterious beast.

Brotherhood of the Wolf

2001

The King Is Dancing poster
6.5

Louis XIV, the French sun-king has two passions, establishing absolute rule over the realm -after decades of religious/civil wars- by divine right and artistic brilliancy as a dancer

The King Is Dancing

2000

Private Lessons poster
5.1

An aspiring tennis player is taken under the wing of an established player as his family life falls apart.

Private Lessons

2009

Moonlight poster
6.3

Claire lives with her wealthy adopted parents in a luxurious and isolated house in the woods. She discovers a wounded and bleeding boy her age in her family's garden shed. The boy is a young drug courier from Afghanistan; shot and wounded after serving his purpose as human packing material. Claire decides to keep the boy a secret. He slowly recovers under her care; and they fall in love. When the drug dealers return and Claire's family is due to move back to the city; they decide to flee; though Claire finds it difficult to outrun her past as an abandoned child.

Moonlight

2002

Princesses poster
4.0

Sophie hasn’t seen her father for at least ten years. She’s gotten used to it and has built a life of her own. One morning, she learns that he is wanted for murder and that she has a half-sister. Her name is Virginie, and her motto is: “I don’t give a damn.” Almost against their will, they set out in search of their father. Between Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam, they meet Simon. Not exactly Prince Charming.

Princesses

2000

Tattoo poster
6.1

Marc Schrader, a rookie cop caught red-handed with drugs in a police raid of an illegal rave, joins a homicide investigation conducted by Chief Inspector Minks. The victim is a naked young woman with the skin stripped off her back, killed as she staggered into traffic. As Schrader and Minks investigate the murder, the case is complicated by a finger found in the stomach of the victim. Forensic examination proves the finger belongs to Nobert Günzel, who was previously convicted of rape and assault. The police raid Günzel’s residence, and discover a blood-stained table with restraints and bits of human flesh in his basement. They also find video equipment and preserved, tattooed skin from the victim’s back. Soon, they found dead bodies buried in the garden. Günzel then goes missing.

Tattoo

2002

The Red Siren poster
5.2

Nearly 13, Alice rebels, telling the Paris police that her mother is a murderer. Alice has no evidence; her mother, Eva, rich and powerful, avoids charges. Alice promptly runs away, determined to find her dad whom she claims lives in Portugal. The police believe he is dead and that Alice is in denial. Nonetheless, they dispatch Anita, an Italian police officer on loan to the French, to find Alice and bring her back. Meanwhile, Eva has launched her own paramilitary force to hunt for Alice, and Alice has found a protector in Hugo, an ex-soldier turned hit man and gang member. He promises to get her to her father. All roads lead to a small town on the Portuguese coast.

The Red Siren

2002

Grimm poster
5.7

One cold winter's day, Jacob and his sister Marie are abandoned in a wood by their out of work father. In his jacket Jacob finds a letter from their mother urging them to go to her brother in Spain. Once in Spain, it turns out that their uncle is dead. Marie meets Diego, a wealthy charming Spanish surgeon, and falls in love with him. Diego lives with his sick, domineering sister, Teresa. To Jacob's astonishment, Marie wants to marry Diego. Even after the wedding has taken place, jealous Jacob tries to get his sister away from Diego. When this doesn't succeed, Jacob starts to provoke his brother-in-law. It soon transpires that no one will go unpunished for this.

Grimm

2003

The Letter for the King poster
5.9

Young Tiuri has to pass the final test before before being knighted by king Dagonaut. He has to pass a night in the chapel, what is suddenly disturbed by a strangers request of help. With his decision to help the stranger, Tiuri abandons his given task and starts into an adventure, that will shape the destiny of Dagonaut. On his journey he learns about the true meaning of love, friendship, courage and loyalty.

The Letter for the King

2008

Pretend I'm Not Here poster
5.9

Student Eric kills time by spying on his neighbors. Compulsively taking notes on everything within binocular range from his bedroom window, he harasses his neighbors by sending unsigned notes and making their private affairs public. When they discover his identity and draw him in, will this release him from his solitude, or confirm in his mind that he will always be the outsider?

Pretend I'm Not Here

2000

Gun-shy poster
5.6

Dito Tsintsadze's drama focuses on a loner whose life changes dramatically, when he gets to know a beautiful, but strange girl. Lukas, a young man doing "meals on wheels" instead of military service, doesn't have many friends and leads a boring life, until he meets Isabella. The fascinating girl soon becomes his best friend, but Lukas learns she has a sexual relationship to her stepfather. Thus, he is obsessed with the idea of delivering Isabella by killing the man..

Gun-shy

2003

Someone Else's Happiness poster
6.4

A village outside Brussels is rocked when a child is killed in a hit-and-run accident and its inhabitants react in a variety of ways to the tragic news.

Someone Else's Happiness

2005

West Point poster
2.7

West Point is a 'film noir', a story of family and emigration. It's La Cabo da Rocha, Portugal, the western-most point of the European continent. Opposite the USA, it's a metaphor of Ellis Island. It's the street dances and it's the part of what has been forgotten that Alexander and his sister Jeanne must accept in order to break free from the original crime, the feeling of abandonment and the color of wheat.

West Point

2008

Savage Souls poster
4.9

At a wake one night in 1945, a group of aged women recall the life of one of their number. Sixty years before, Thérèse was barely 20 years old when she eloped with her boyfriend, Firmin, a blacksmith, to Châtillon, a town in Provence. Here, she makes the acquaintance of the wealthy Madame Numance, who is known for her good deeds. Realising that Thérèse is pregnant and unemployed, Madame Numance insists that she moves into a house on her estate. Whilst Firmin resents the arrangement, Thérèse soon finds that she can exploit the situation, using her benefactor's naivety and generosity for her own gain..

Savage Souls

2001

1990s · 17 titles

Queen Margot poster
7.2

Paris, Kingdom of France, August 18, 1572. To avoid the outbreak of a religious war, the Catholic princess Marguerite de Valois, sister of the feeble King Charles IX, marries the Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre.

Queen Margot

1994

Swing Kids poster
6.7

The story of a close-knit group of young kids in Nazi Germany who listen to banned swing music from the US. Soon dancing and fun leads to more difficult choices as the Nazis begin tightening the grip on Germany. Each member of the group is forced to face some tough choices about right, wrong, and survival.

Swing Kids

1993

Train of Life poster
7.3

In 1941, the inhabitants of a small Jewish village in Central Europe organize a fake deportation train so that they can escape the Nazis and flee to Palestine.

Train of Life

1998

Dilemma poster
10.0

She's a lawyer with a social conscience. He's a calculating industrialist who keeps many deals hidden from her. But when she discovers that her husband is involved in illegal arms traffic and is also having an affair with one of her colleagues, a direct confrontation ensues.

Dilemma

1990

A Saturday on Earth poster
6.6

A series of seemingly unconnected events and 50 important speaking parts make this film a jigsaw puzzle to be solved by the viewer. Martin and Claire were separated in childhood, and are brought together by a series of coincidences. A tragic car crash is central to the story, but seemingly unimportant events can hold great significance. Through a montage of different film stock and techniques director Diane Bertrand creates pieces of a puzzle, from which the viewer has to piece together a story. That's the premise of the film, and it is solvable. You just have to work a bit...

A Saturday on Earth

1996

Felice… Felice… poster
6.7

Tragic love story about the photographer and explorer Felice Beato who travelled back to Japan in 1895 to seek his former wife O-Kiku. On the way he describes in a nostalgic letter to his brother how much he yearns for his lost love O-Kiku and how impotent he feels in an ancient Japan subject to rapid change. The journey takes him to Nagasaki and Moji, Onomichi, Mount Fuji, Yokohama and Tokyo. Places he once visited with his beloved and where he now no longer understands the people. Felice...Felice... is inspired by hand-coloured nineteenth century photos taken by e.g. Felice Beato, Sjimooka Renjo and Baron von Stilfried. In this film, shot entirely in a studio, the photos depict Felice's journey. Awarded the Golden Calf for Best Feature film in 1998. (NFF)

Felice… Felice…

1998

Betrayal poster
7.0

After the war, in Bucharest, a young Romanian poet arrested for having written an article denouncing Stalinist crimes, will save his life by accepting to become a hostage of the regime.

Betrayal

1993

The Johnsons poster
6.0

According to an ancient Indian tale a giant monster embryo residing in a crystal vase is predetermined to fertilize a blue-eyed woman. She will give birth to something evil to unleash horror and destruction upon human kind. Ugly septuplet brothers reproduced within the framework of mysterious genetic experiments terrorize a young innocent girl who seems to be chosen for the sinister predestination.

The Johnsons

1992

Tykho Moon poster
5.6

The McBee family has erected a government over a future 'colony', that looks like a run-down Paris divided into sectors by the Berlin Wall. All male family members suffer from a mysterious disease and are in urgent need of organ transplants. The perfect donor, Tykho Moon, probably has been killed in a fire, but according to rumours he's still alive. Although assassins stalk the family members, the McBees start a hunt for Tykho. Trying to escape the dragnet, Alex, a sculptor, meets Lena, a killer posing as a whore.

Tykho Moon

1996

Traces of Smoke poster
10.0

A portrait of a woman and 26 witnesses who appear to be accusing her of something but we'll never know what. We'll never even know who she is and who the witnesses are. A complex experiment about space, voice and speech.

Traces of Smoke

1992

Eline Vere poster
6.3

This melodramatic film follows Eline Vere, as she attempts to break free from the confines of her narrow existence in The Hague through three tumultuous and ultimately disastrous courtships. Adaptation of Louis Couperus' novel Eline Vere.

Eline Vere

1991

Moon Shadow poster
6.5

Astrophysicist Lorenzo returns to Sicily from Milan to sell his childhood home. Upon arrival, he meets Salvatore, whom he enlists to help with maintenance work. Lorenzo discovers that he does not have the funds he hoped for to continue the research he was working on. At the same time, he also discovers the world of the therapeutic community for psychotics, where Salvatore's son is a guest.

Moon Shadow

1995

The Gambler poster
4.8

Under pressure from his publisher, Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky gets work on his latest piece, 'Rouletenberg'. In the 27 days it takes for him to complete the novel reality and fiction become blurred; in this feverish atmosphere of excess Dostoyevsky's characters come to life as he struggles to complete his work.

The Gambler

1997

Daens poster
7.1

Father Daens returns to Aalst, where workers suffer from poverty, child labor, and exploitation in the textile industry. Driven by his sense of justice, he takes their side, even if it means confronting the church and the upper class. A detailed historical drama about the fight for justice.

Daens

1992

The Commissioner poster
6.0

John Hurt stars as a scandal-hit member of parliament, dispatched to the political backwaters of the European Commission in Brussels as penance for his failures. However, once there he stumbles upon a chemical weapons outrage that points to a sinister political-industrial conspiracy.

The Commissioner

1998

True Blue poster
6.2

The story of the year the Oxford and Cambridge boat race changed from a gentleman's race to one where winning was everything.

True Blue

1996

The Stranger From Strasbourg poster
5.4

Madeleine is with her lover, Jean-Paul, when her husband arrives home and catches the two together. Madeleine kills her husband and tells Jean-Paul to flee before the police arrive. After Jean-Paul drives away, he picks up a hitchhiker. When the car, stolen by the hitchhiker, explodes, police believe the dead hitchhiker is Jean-Paul. Madeleine takes up with Jean-Paul's brother, Bastien, while Jean-Paul, arriving in Strasbourg, is mistaken for the heir to a fortune. The detective on the case spends more time writing crime novels than investigating real-life crimes.

The Stranger From Strasbourg

1998

1980s · 9 titles

Broken Mirrors poster
6.0

Diane and Dora are two prostitutes who begin to rebel against their lot in life. Meanwhile, in another part of town, a murderer is at large.

Broken Mirrors

1984

Hail Mary poster
6.2

A college student gets pregnant without having intercourse, affecting people close and unrelated to her in different ways.

Hail Mary

1985

Death in the Shadows poster
5.2

A woman and her daughter lives in Oostdijk, a village near Amsterdam. One night when the mother is on her way home, she is killed in a car accident in the street they live in.

Death in the Shadows

1985

The Music Teacher poster
7.0

Aging opera singer Joachim Dallayrac retires from the stage and retreats to the countryside to school two young singers. Although the rigorous training takes its toll on both teacher and students, there is plenty of time for relationships to develop between the three.

The Music Teacher

1988

Desiring Julia poster
4.7

A young man falls in love with extra-liberated Giulia. Their relationship becomes very passionate, but Giulia has no limits in her sexual fantasies and games. Poor guy, will soon discover he'll have to pay a price for Giulia. He'll have to put up with all her strange and pervert desires, until of course he reaches his limits.

Desiring Julia

1986

The Abyss poster
5.4

The Inquisition is in full swing in 16th century Flanders. Wanted for his dissident writings, the alchemist doctor Zeno has been wandering Europe under an assumed name for twenty years. But he remains a non-conformist. He returns to his native Bruges, where he thinks he has been forgotten. In this silent labyrinth where the faces of the past resurface, he rediscovers his identity and thus signs his death warrant.

The Abyss

1988

The Girl with the Red Hair poster
6.7

During the second world war law student Hannie Schaft is a member of the Dutch resistance movement.

The Girl with the Red Hair

1981

Little Titans poster
8.5

Koekebakker is a successful journalist. His old mates, however, turned out failures: Bekker has lost all hope of changing the world, Hoyer works for the socialist party, Bavink suffers from mental problems and Kees is a simple laborer.

Little Titans

1983

Sailors Don't Cry poster
5.0

The story centers on Hilde, a bar owner in a small port town who raises her young son, Stijn, alone after his father, Paul, abandoned them right after his birth. Hilde has since built a new life and found comfort with her new partner, Guy. The tension rises when Paul, a wandering sailor, suddenly returns after years at sea. His unexpected arrival creates an intense love triangle, reopening old emotional wounds. As Paul tries to re-seduce Hilde, conflicts explode between the three adults. Amidst this chaos of love, jealousy, and anger, young Stijn is left shocked by these complicated adult problems, trying his best to fix what is broken.

Sailors Don't Cry

1989

Series credits

Scene of the Crime poster
6.2

Tatort is a long-running German/Austrian/Swiss crime television series set in various parts of these countries. The show is broadcast on the channels of ARD in Germany, ORF in Austria and SF1 in Switzerland.

Scene of the Crime

1970

Les Cinq Dernières Minutes poster
NR

Les Cinq Dernieres Minutes is a crime based French television series

Les Cinq Dernières Minutes

1958

Maigret poster
7.7

The pragmatic, reserved and refined Maigret investigates murders in his singular unhurried manner and inevitably discovers the truth.

Maigret

1991

The Missing poster
7.2

A gripping anthological relationship thriller series exploring the emotional fallout of a child's abduction not only on the family but on the wider community, told over two time frames.

The Missing

2014

Lockdown poster
7.8

Each short story plays in the same setting with 2 characters, each on their side of the glass of the visitors area from a prison that them (and also the world) divides.

Lockdown

2021

Pandora poster
5.5

Judge Claire Delval discovers that her father, Simon Delval, is involved in the corruption case she has been investigating for years. Forced to resign, his place in the Francophone Liberal Party is coveted by the discreet Mark Van Dyck

Pandora

2022

Kuchnia polska poster
6.0

No synopsis available yet.

Kuchnia polska

1993

I know who you are poster
5.6

After wrecking his car in a deserted road in the middle of the forest and being found with the blood and mobile phone of his niece, successful criminal lawyer Daniel Elias can no longer remember who he is but must find a way to prove his innocence, even though he does not know whether he is guilty or not.

I know who you are

2018

Vechtershart poster
7.2

No synopsis available yet.

Vechtershart

2015

Les Thibault poster
6.0

Between 1905 and 1918, the opposing destinies of two brothers from a large Catholic bourgeois family.

Les Thibault

2003

The Enclave poster
8.0

The Enclave is a three-part series directed by Willem van de Sande Bakhuyzen, about the fall of Srebrenica and the Dutch government's failure to protect the town from attackers. The series originally aired by Netherlands Public Broadcasting. The series was made in 2002. It has since been condensed into a movie and is regularly shown on US free satellite network LinkTV. In the original series, each episode describes the Srebrenica massacre in three different points of view and how it continues to control the characters. In the movie version, only two points of view were shown. The following episode descriptions were taken from the Dutch Public Broadcasting website.

The Enclave

2002

9 Days of the Vulture poster
8.5

A story of friendship, love, crime and death. Against the backdrop of a large criminal investigation the lives of various characters involved get entangled. Meanwhile a vulture floats in the sky over the city, observing and being watched.

9 Days of the Vulture

2001

No artwork available
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Hoe voelen wij ons vandaag?

1992