|
 It says a lot
about the impact of a children's television series when the official
website of a historic 14th Century windmill makes a point of
referring to the buildings as the "Zeppos-Mill" some forty years
after filming. For that's exactly what
www.windmolen.be notes in its text about the
history of the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek windmill. It even
acknowledges that the series brought the property some welcome fame.
And eventually, just over thirty years after the cameras stopped
rolling on the 1968 serials of Kapitein Zeppos, a new
generation of film makers were drawn to Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-Lombeek -
and remarkably, they were shooting a new episode of Kapitein
Zeppos.
Ludovic Beun and his film crew arrived
at the windmill in April 1999 and he later described the experience
as "magical... For some reason it felt like the spirit of the
original film team was still there, and I'm pretty sure that the
pioneers watched from the top of the Mill to make sure everything
went fine with Kurrel & Co."
 The
windmill's first appearance in Kurrel & Co. is deftly
handled. Following the opening titles, the action focuses upon two
characters - Ben (Steph Baeyens) and Jeroen (Mathias Sercu) - in an
expansive tilled field as they use a scarecrow for crossbow
practice. They exchange dialogue and not once does the director
allow the viewer to see exactly where they are - until a voice is
heard crying out and the camera opens out to reveal the windmill and
mill cottage in the background as Annemie (Tine Reymer) runs into
shot. It's a magic moment - one which is so much the better for the
surprise revelation that we are back at Captain Zeppos' windmill
home. Kurrel & Co. uses the windmill and farm cottage to
excellent effect, with sequences in the courtyard and inside the
cottage itself. Beun's team also staged an exciting and convincing
set-piece in the barn, with Ben giving Jeroen a lesson in the art of
fencing.
 It
was during 1999 that the farmhouse and windmill (also referred to as
the Hertboommill) was sold at public auction. The buyer, Jozef Van
Waeyenberge, committed himself to an extensive and sensitive
restoration project, which was concluded in 2002. Although the
windmill is only seen in the middle distance in Kurrel & Co.,
it represents one of the last snapshots of the mill before it was
dismantled and reconstructed. The restoration is marvellous and has
given a new lease of life to a windmill that was in an increasingly
perilous state of repair. For details about how and when you may
visit the windmill, please visit the website at
www.windmolen.be - meanwhile, you can read more about
the Hertboommill in its
Series One Locations entry here
at Adventurer. |
