SOLDIER OF ORANGE is a nice, rarely known Paul Verhoeven movie, shot in his native Holland and starring his one-time favourite actor, Rutger Hauer. It's a story whose backdrop encompasses the Second World War, and the Nazi invasion of that country. Verhoeven is obviously fascinated by the whole era - he would later return to it with the similar, even better BLACK BOOK - and his fascination is ably transmitted to the viewer.
This is an engaging little movie that remains well-shot, well-directed, and well-written. The running time is lengthy and there's not a real deal of action - sometimes the lack of a proper budget is all too apparent - but it's also never boring and instead very watchable. Hauer and Jeroen Krabbe (THE FOURTH MAN) make for an excellent double act as the idealistic students who find themselves drawn into a war of resistance against the Nazis.
The sense of place in SOLDIER OF ORANGE is excellent, and the realistic portrayal of events - there's no gung-ho stuff here - makes it feel almost documentary-like at times. It's certainly a great little film, more mature and sensible than Verhoeven's later overblown Hollywood efforts, and is eclipsed only by BLACK BOOK, which was made some thirty years later and is even more thrilling and exciting.
This is an engaging little movie that remains well-shot, well-directed, and well-written. The running time is lengthy and there's not a real deal of action - sometimes the lack of a proper budget is all too apparent - but it's also never boring and instead very watchable. Hauer and Jeroen Krabbe (THE FOURTH MAN) make for an excellent double act as the idealistic students who find themselves drawn into a war of resistance against the Nazis.
The sense of place in SOLDIER OF ORANGE is excellent, and the realistic portrayal of events - there's no gung-ho stuff here - makes it feel almost documentary-like at times. It's certainly a great little film, more mature and sensible than Verhoeven's later overblown Hollywood efforts, and is eclipsed only by BLACK BOOK, which was made some thirty years later and is even more thrilling and exciting.