ASTRID - SYNOPSIS

ASTRID

-Marilyn 

LOG LINE:  Astrid is an epic film that spans the lives of Queen Astrid of Belgium, King Leopold III and his second wife Lillian Baels on through to world war II with their imprisonment in Nazi Germany.

SYNOPSIS:  A unique couple Astrid and Leopold are the hope of Belgium after resurrecting Belgian African colonies cleaning the mess in the aftermath of cruelty there by the previous king Leopold II who committed horrible atrocities against mankind labouring in the rubber tree crops.

Astrid poses in the kitchen with a mixing bowl and batter supporting the life of the commoner by this easy going couple in Belgium in a new Vogue of leadership.  They have three children Beaudoin the eldest Josephine and Albert the youngest and live in a large chateau they call Astrid’s Castle.  Elisbeth the intense mother of Leopold and Albert have taken over and kept the Laeken Palace of royalty in Brussels after his coronation ousting the royal couple to more humble digs. 

Great humor both Leopold and Astrid share making a light hearted style permeate the entire film through wondrous success and strife.  Leopold has a love of the Belgian Congo which was largely abandoned by Elisbeth’s disgust in insects and too much heat.  Astrid and Leopold make the long journey by plane boat and railway to the Belgian Congo to resurrect the people, creating white clothing for them to shielded them from the sun and setting up schools workshops and other facilities for the locals and tending to their export crops and mines. Beauty of the place and wildness gives the royal couple a break from the formalities of their duty and a perspective on the value of all people in all places under their care in the beauteous nature of the Congo.

Shortly after their return Astrid dies in a horrible car accident where the car skids out of control hitting a tree and rolling over.  She dies and the children are left with a grieving father to tend to them with their nannies. He remarries Lillian Baels and she takes on the role of mother hood after he ousts Elisbeth and Albert from Laeken Palace reclaiming it as the proper royal residence. Leopold’s parents take his old address to live in.

World War II breaks out and Hitler imprisons the royal couple in the royal palace of Laeken at first after Leopold surrenders to Hitler’s army to save Belgian lives. As the war intensifies and the Germans interfere with the alliance supported government dispersal of ruler ship under house arrest to Belgium by the king Leopold and his family are taken to Hirchstein to a broken down Chateau in Germany to be imprisoned.  After months of near starvation and battling gangrene in one of the children from a leg wound they are moved to Strobl for the final months of imprisonment where finally the Americans rescue them and set them free as the war ends.

Leopold is exiled from Belgium in a vote damning him for the surrender of Belgium to Germany by just over half the people’s vote.  He and the family live in Switzerland for seven years till the coronation of Beaudoin as king finally in a huge celebration outside Laeken Palace.

Leopold and Lillian travel back to the Congo later to classify species of botanical plants never previously classified as his hobby turns scholarly in his retirement from government with his wife. 

ASTRID PRE PRODUCTION PAGE

The film Astrid is largely research based and remote viewed by me not much is there in terms of historical facts about their lives except bits and pieces I found as this is a smaller country in Europe so these royals were not as well known. Key highlights of their lives were that after the war like crimes of Leopold II on the Congolese they royals were very down to earth, modern, practical and welcoming to other races of people.  They created improvements to the lives of Congolese people covered in the film. World War II came upon Europe and an adventure hit the family after Astrids car accident death with a new wife Lillian, Germany the family faced and imprisonment. 80 percent of the story is fact based with small changes such as Delaying Astrid's death a little longer in the story and condensing the prison terms in each location for the purpose of flow of the story. 
     

Here we have photos as I find them relevant to the film ASTRID.

Congo Museum Brussels Interior

Congo museum interior 

Museum Exterior

Belgium

Belgium

Belgium

Belgian Congo 

Astrid and Leopold

Belgian Congo Bungalows

Horror of previous king Leopold II was limbs cut off if they did not collect enough rubber infact in his colonies in Africa many died also by this horrid leader.

By Boat

Belgian Congo

Belgium

Belgian Congo local's hut

Belgian Congo houses.

Royal family

Waterfalls in Congo

Astrid's children

Pattern James painted at Wingmakers in his art.


Royals with family

Belgian Congo early school

Belgian Congo mine possibly copper

Astrid's castle 

Astrid's castle

Belgian Congo staff from army of Leopold were dressed very well with pilbox rectangular hats and smart suits fitted stylishly blacks inlcuded who spoke french.  Below toy building program by Astrid and Leopold III.  

Royal residences are here where everyone lived described.

 http://www.unofficialroyalty.com/royal-residences/belgian-royal-residences/

This went back to Elisbeth when he threw her out again taking the big castle s my intuition told me its in the notes here.

http://royalchatter.com/index.php?topic=1116.0

Another supposed residence same name.

Plant conservatory at Laeken main castle which Elisbeth Hogged till Leopold remarried then he moved in. Oh what a surprise to see this here after the writing of Ethereal Room and my kid was frying and me!

  
http://ww2db.com/battle_spec.php?battle_id=32

Battle route info above.

Battle of the taking of Belgium begins link here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fort_Eben-Emael

Lillian Baels Second wife of Leopold III

Coronation videos are available on you tube for Beaudoin's coronation.

Beaodoin as a man.

ETHEREAL CAFE - SYNOPSIS

ETHEREAL CAFE

- Marilyn 

LOG LINE:  Ethereal Cafe is a film about an unusual, older, holistic healing duo that causes dramatic self adjustments as people face their karma for better or worse.

SYNOPSIS:  Angela and Lance are the owners of a business venture called Ethereal Cafe where they get referrals of all kinds for people who are in trouble somehow in the soul.  A deceptively tranquil environment conservatory setting with profuse plants, birds flying fee and ornate antiques rococo style sits for people to join the working couple for a coffee and chat.  Intense light reviews in life that take a split second and slow the heart stopping it to recalibrate in seconds a new life to occur as part of this dramatic suspense film with astoundingly candid wit.

Linda is a seemingly basic dry cleaning business owner who lives a near spinster life with her brother in a house of her deceased parents.  A fire breaks out and they are left with a charred kitchen they have to remodel and this cases the move forward to finally sell the old place and get their own condos.  Linda visits Ethereal Cafe for a life changing experience where she faces how her worry manifests all around her silly situations that stop the flow of joyous life experienced fully. Linda meets David a business executive who leaves some dry cleaning at her shop and he asks her out when he picks it up they dine finally over explicitly candid conversation which breaks any misconception about Linda being demure.

Rob and Angela the married couple have settled in to a predictable marriage which does not rally include an acceptance of the work she does with Lance because of Robs trepidation about its unconventional aspects. He plans a road trip getaway with four friends who are all retired now as he enters his retirement year. Angela agrees feeling a break good for them after a kiss with Lance ensued at Ethereal Cafe.

Natalie a girl with cancer whose mother poisoned her slowly with Munchausen’s by Proxy ailment has a mother who visits Ethereal Cafe and drops dead of a heart attack when faced with the truth about the abuse of her daughter. Lane follows the death with a visit to Natalie’s house to see if she’d like to help out at the cafe.  Natalie accepts and shows up to serve coffee in the sun filled sanctuary like setting and to witness other revelations of visitors whose lives change leading to her own betterment.

Linda and David’s relationship heats up with more shocking revelations about her and she proceeds to sell the house after the kitchen is renovated to completion.  Ron her brother notes she is brutally truthful and eases her she never lies so during the open house Linda goes all out on a dare her brother gave her to actually lie.  She fibs that the old place was owned by moonshine runners during the prohibition and tells other tales about it. One house viewer Anne is smitten with the wild tales and buys the house the same day of the open house to Linda’s brother’s amazement.

Rob and his friends have a great time of humor and car racing entertainment on their road trip with healthy male bonding time.  

Rob returns home to more adventure laden Angela his wife who is more sure they should get a divorce with Lance in full agreement. Lance and Angela plot a visit by Rob to Ethereal Cafe to have some sort of a realization so he leaves Angela and he marriage. Disaster strikes during one such visit when he does finally arrive and he condemns both of them for cheating while he was faithful during his trip.  He storms out and divorce proceedings do however begin by Rob. 

Eventually he forgives and Angela and Rob come to an amicable divorce agreement also making Lance relieved greatly.

Angela decide to stay cool during a break from everything she takes accepting her marriage lost they close Ethereal Cafe for a couple of weeks and she readies her life for the change to being single again after thirty years of marriage. She has dinner with Linda who offers great wit and friendship to Angela.

Lance and Angela return to work after Rob decides to call Nadine an attractive divorcé he met on vacation from L.A. they have dinner and like two children are gleefully gossiping about both being single. Edward a European socialite and business man who was threatened by a gang member arrives at Ethereal Cafe to face his destiny.   

THE DARK PLACE - SYNOPSIS

THE DARK PLACE

- Marilyn 

SYNOPSIS:  The Dark Place, a sequel to Blood Codes, is a film about the fear mortals harbor unknowingly of immortals and associated phenomenon they produce.

LOG LINE: Dovelle is back in this second film hounded by busy andromedans bothering her for activities to do with Earth’s betterment. In a dark alley she is pulled in to a place in the sky where all that is seen is her negative space; a dark spot in the pulsing with life.  People in the alley are astonished one thinks it is the devil and Armageddon another is confused and unsure; it disappears and they leave the area.

Wesley is busy composing music for an album and planning his concert his first larger concert.  He has given Jillian an engagement ring and she has moved into his apartment with him. Jason and Garth had a huge fight and Jason has left him and Aurora for the time being; a shared girl friend of them both. Dovelle is chased again by andromedans who want to use her mind for some endeavor for Earth she escapes to the back of the building overwhelmed with the attention into an alley as this particular craft has entities on it who ball and help themselves to anything.  She produces green and red snakes she throws at the space craft as her contributory ‘mind’ a photographer takes a photo of the phenomenon and he is stopped his film chip taken by an andromedan ‘spy’ on a human after Dovelle leaves the area.

James a young college grad gets his first job at forensics investigation with Ivy and his first crime scene is a young woman who is strangled and left in the back of her yard. He meets Ivy and they begin on the case together.

Marlina is getting more cozy with Alexander who is watching the world with interest through its chaos. Dovelle and some of the others agree on the apocalyptic theory of hers regarding events like Y2K, 2012 and movements like Mayan Calendar ‘end of time’ predictions being bogus and self annihilating because the attracts thousands and mislead them the end of the world never happens and cataclysms hit with the grid of belief held together by a collective causing them. Mayan Calendar being linear time once gain tracked but asking the collective to change had a built in apocalyptic effect of itself causing a large earthquake in Mexico in 2012.

Alexander and Dovelle ponder the apocalyptic affect with Wesley Garth Aurora Jason and others through the film and finally they witness a huge blazing star that was spun by her prior during her ascension andromedans reproduced a smaller version of it from her memory archive and left it hanging outside her apartment for ‘effect.’ 

Wesley’s concert is a huge success anticipation builds for his new music CD. Jason meets a woman who is a thief they almost date she re offends he throws her out.  He meets Elsie a book worm intellectual who has an unconventional side to hang out with instead. They hit it off and have ravishing conversation about the future and all the challenges.  

Dovelle demonstrates more phenomenon and visits the different characters as the movie progresses.

Jason and Garth make up with Aurora they are happy he found a and girlfriend they resume their friendship and a mysterious leads lead to cases solved for young James at the forensics job.

A final discovery is made Dovelle’s headquarters in the top of a building where she has twenty years worth of archives are stored from her writings and research.  She lets he group of friends in to witness it and to contemplate their own roles in their personal evolution to do with the future in the top secret suite filled with artifact photos and other archives.