This (TV) film was made in a series of Dutch TV films. I wonder how the network producing this movie (AVRO) managed to produce something this awful when they produced a magnificent TV film in the same series (Cloaca, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375662/).
This movie suffers from some real Dutch movie diseases: massive and annoying overacting, unbelievable and contrived characters, well-known Dutch actors trying to portray foreigners (who, as a result, speak with a terrible Dutch accent, making it even less believable), and a thoroughly wooden screenplay (especially the portrayal of violence, including someone getting shot in the head without spilling an ounce of brain or blood, even managing to put a newspaper over his head after being shot - maybe they forgot to bring the stage blood?).
At a time when Dutch movies are climbing out of the amateurish pit they were in for a long time, this movie is a giant setback. The only positive side to it is that this is merely a TV film, not a major movie destined for international rotation or (God forbid) a serious film festival.
Obviously, that's a negative side-effect for Cloaca, which is real motion picture material and could use a wider audience.
Anyway, if you're unfortunate enough to run into La Bella Bettien, just gaze at Thekla Reuten's lips and eyes and forget she was ever in a movie this horrible.
I might have given this a 3, but since the movie is actually based on true events, the additional talent needed to turn a true story into an unbelievable movie means the score drops down to 2.
This movie suffers from some real Dutch movie diseases: massive and annoying overacting, unbelievable and contrived characters, well-known Dutch actors trying to portray foreigners (who, as a result, speak with a terrible Dutch accent, making it even less believable), and a thoroughly wooden screenplay (especially the portrayal of violence, including someone getting shot in the head without spilling an ounce of brain or blood, even managing to put a newspaper over his head after being shot - maybe they forgot to bring the stage blood?).
At a time when Dutch movies are climbing out of the amateurish pit they were in for a long time, this movie is a giant setback. The only positive side to it is that this is merely a TV film, not a major movie destined for international rotation or (God forbid) a serious film festival.
Obviously, that's a negative side-effect for Cloaca, which is real motion picture material and could use a wider audience.
Anyway, if you're unfortunate enough to run into La Bella Bettien, just gaze at Thekla Reuten's lips and eyes and forget she was ever in a movie this horrible.
I might have given this a 3, but since the movie is actually based on true events, the additional talent needed to turn a true story into an unbelievable movie means the score drops down to 2.