Although other reviews find this film to be quite accurate to their experience, I find it to be going to extremes. I too had this ritual, and have to say that it was not the worst nightmare come true.
The movie tells the story of freshmen students in university (ages 18-*), but might as well be on students in so-called high-schools in Belgium (notably Antwerp, director Eric Van Looy's favorite shooting location for movies, cfr Memory of a Killer, aka De Zaak Alzheimer). It more specifically tells the story on the side-activities of students in their first few months on campus, but with a fatal outcome for one of them.
First off: yes, this is quite accurate on what happens on a 'doop' (or baptizing; pronounced like "d' ooh p") and a 'schachtenverkoop' (or freshmen-sale) in that respect that they are badly treated and scolded or verbally abused. The concept of a sale of people to older baptized students for beer (used later by the organizing club to throw parties and help to finance the students club) is demeaning for those being sold and is reminiscent of selling slaves in centuries gone by. They are sold to do everything (decent) for those who buy them for a week. This usually results in work around the house (dishes, washing of cars, clothing, apartments, bringing beer in bars, ...). By no means this means inappropriate requests like sexual favors etc.
The next step is 'den doop', usually preceded by a 'drill', which is quite filthy for those involved. Depending on what club you join or what kind of studies they represent, this can go from milk, flower, eggs, ketchup, garlic eating, mud, animal blood and intestines and faces (those studying for veterinarians), ...
After this drilling part, you have the 'doop' itself. Depending on the club, you are called one by one or in group on stage to do a small task. Some clubs have koekoek's (mockingbirds,like in swiss wall clocks) that are placed on stage and every time the people in the audience ask for it, must give the exact time or drink a full pint of beer ad fundum (=bottoms up). It never is correct, although some are quite accurate.
And the final stage in your freshmen year usually is 'ontgroening', where you get a spoon of salt on your tongue and need to drink a full pint of beer (which reacts of course) after having recited some Latin text, pleading allegiance to the club.
While I studied in Antwerp itself from the year 1994-1995 up, this movie was not accurate and not anything like what I've witnessed in my years in the club (even as Praeses (head of the club) or in the Praesidium (chairmen of club)). In those years, I've witnessed over 30 of these rituals, even in other clubs.
If you want to see this movie or are reading this review to know a bit about a 'studentendoop' in Belgium, or Flanders, or Antwerp, my advice is that this always depends on what club you want to join or where in the country. There are clubs in Antwerp that do NOT allow drinking of the praesidium during these activities (zero tolerance), some don't have a sale, some do it all in one (short pain), but as far as I know, nobody has been banned from club activities because they weren't baptized, except for those 2 kind of activities involved with initiated members: doop/ontgroening/verkoop and cantus.
The film is maybe inspired by some accidents that happened before. I am not going to lie... people have died in less controlled times because of irresponsible or stupid ideas some people had, or people have gotten wounded or scarred for life, although these are far a minority. The practice is condoned, but not approved by most academic instances or the local and countries government.
The story I believe Ad Fundum is founded on in part is the death of a student in Antwerp a few decades ago, where someone was launched from the 3rd floor, wrapped in a few thick mattresses. A stupid death because one can foresee that there is even a remote chance (even a lot more than remote, namely: certain) that the person will die. That club nowadays still is active, but it checks other baptizing and does not baptize anyone anymore.
Other stories, going from lethal burns from being placed in a barrel where there used to be stored sulfuric acid in, and were badly cleaned I have not heard, although in the year I started, this was on our campus a fact (although the persons did not die) that had happened that year.
Bad uses or wanting to be 'original' or 'spectacular', like using stunt-fluids to drench someones pants in and later set on fire is something you could ask yourself a why on (like happened with a certain Med-students club 5 years ago), and surely something you can see going wrong (the flames of course did not stop on the bottom of the legs on the outside, but shot back up on the inside as well.
Overall good performances of the actors, a bit worse on the camera-work, but still a good movie. Just don't take the story to be true (anymore)?
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