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Topic: Two recent Dutch films: Doodslag (2011) & Nova Zembla (2012)
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Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
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posted 06-16-2012 06:48 PM
Saw both of these on the 7" seat-back screen of a KLM flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam recently, and liked both of them to the extent that I'm writing here in the hope that they manage to pick up an arthouse distribution in English-speaking markets.
Doodslag is a gritty, realist melodrama about an Amsterdam ambulance driver who gets increasingly frustrated by thuggish behaviour on the city's streets. One night, when faced by yobs who stop him from getting to a mother in labour with life-threatening birth complications, he snaps and kills one of them. He is jailed for manslaughter (the "doodslag" of the title), and the rest of the film is about him having to deal with life after he's released from jail. I won't say any more because (a) it would involve politics and (b) it would spoil the plot. Theo Masssen as the lead was a captivating screen presence from start to finish, and absolutely carried the film. The photography and locations were striking - one thing that struck me was that the film was divided into four "acts", one of which (20 minutes or so) was entirely in black-and-white. The film confronts the viewer with a moral dilemma, but does not offer an easy answer whichever side of the political line you happen to be on. In some ways this is a sort of a Dutch Harry Brown. It's fast moving (under an hour and a half), visually striking (nice 'scope urban landscapes) and the cast ranged from good to excellent, though I thought the script and direction let the pace and tension down in one or two scenes. AFAIK it hasn't been theatrically released or published on DVD/BD outside The Netherlands yet, and it certainly deserves to be.
I was less impressed by Nova Zembla. It had obviously had a lot more money thrown at it, was based on a very intriguing historical story and had the A-list model Doutzen Kroes thrown in as a supporting role for eye candy and marketability. The problem is that neither she nor most of the rest of the cast can act: scenes that should have generated real suspense came across as lines being ploddingly delivered in a rehearsal take. The sets, costumes and SFX were as good as anything from Hollywood, though, and overall I thought it was worth two hours of my time.
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