The Netherlands as a country has some great things. Good healthcare, easy public transport and excellent education. But there’s one thing I don’t like about our country: the movies.
The thing with ‘our’ movies is that they’re all alike. There’s X different genres and that’s about it. And while some of them might be good, I’m just tired of them always being the same.
About half of the Dutch movies are romcoms. The thing that bothers me most with this genre: they all seem to have the same cast. Always the damn same people. Oh and most of them have acted in Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden which is this soap opera that has been on the air for 30 years. Pretty much every well-known actor has acted in GTST though, not only the actors that end up in romcoms!
Movies like this are: Alles is Liefde, Alles is Familie, Soof, F*ck de Liefde, All you need is Love and Toscaanse Bruiloft
I have to admit that these movies actually aren’t that bad. And the second world war has been pretty hard for our little country, so I kinda get that they like to make movies about the war. And most of these are well-known in other countries, which proves that they aren’t that bad.
Movies like this are: Bankier van het Verzet, Zwartboek, Oorlogswinter, Süskind, Het Bombardement and Oorlogsgeheimen
We Dutch like black humor. We’re seen as pretty direct people and I think our love for black humor seems to have to do with this. And we have a lot of black humor movies. And yes, most of these also have the same cast, but that’s because they’re the makers. You’re not going to come up with a great movie and find other people to act in them if you’re an actor yourself, right?
Movies like this are: Rundfunk: Jachterwachter, New Kids Nitro, New Kids Turbo, Bro’s Before Ho’s, Ron Goossens, Low Budget Stuntman
This genre is really cringy. YouTube is a very popular medium here, and we have some YouTubers that are pretty popular among 8 to 14-year-olds. And a few years back, someone found out that putting them in movies without any real acting experience was going to be very profitable. The result? Cringy movies with predictable storylines.
Movies like this are: Project Gio, Misfit, XIII, Elvy’s Wereld
These movies can actually be quite good. It’s just that I don’t like thrillers, but a lot of adults do. Interesting about this genre of Dutch movies is that most of them are based on bestseller books. Almost none of them are original. But does that matter? No, not at all. It gives Dutch books a bit of a boost!
Movies like this are: Vals, Taped, Het Diner, Terug naar de Kust and Brimstone
First of all: It’s not that I don’t like all of them. I do have some exceptions though! But I’ll talk about those in the next paragraph. There are actually more reasons than “They’re cliché” or “I just don’t like them”. Hear me out.
I’m bothered by the use of the same actors, over and over. Most of the Dutch actors are best-known for a specific genre, and seem to be tied by them. So if I only were to watch black humor film, I’d come across the same actors over and over again. That would bore me.
Also, I have to listen really carefully to hear what everybody’s saying. In contrast to most countries, we don’t have voice-overs. Every foreign movie gets subtitled (thank god) which means I’m used to read what’s being said. So if they are no subtitles, I have to turn up the volume and I don’t like that. I almost never watch a movie without subtitles, just so that I won’t have to give it all of my attention.
Enough negative talk, right? I’m just completely honest, and that means I still have positive things to say! Here’s a list of Dutch movies that I did enjoy, even though they’re not good movies.
These are probably the most successfull Dutch romcoms of all time. Everybody, young and old, knows Alles is Liefde and its successor Alles is Familie.
Alles is Liefde looks a lot like Love, Actually, but instead follows different people when Saint Nicholas is coming instead of Christmas. It’s a fun watch but nothing more than that.
Alles is Familie partly has the same cast as Alles is Liefde, but they’re playing different people. This movie isn’t that much about love between two people, but more about love between families.
These two movies were a huge hit, but not only in the Netherlands. The Germans seem to love it even more than we do.
The economic crisis hit the world hard. That’s the base of New Kids Turbo, which came out in 2010. Full of rude jokes, weird people and a funny story. It’s really absurd, but that’s what makes this movie so likeable!
New Kids Nitro is even more absurd. The same rude and weird people, but this time it involves zombies. Not as great as New Kids Turbo, but laughs are guaranteed!
Baantjer het Begin only came out last year, but has been a great nostalgic movie for most of the adults here. A long time ago, in 1996, a series called Baantjer was on TV. It was the most successful Dutch TV show when it aired. De Cock (Met C O C K) was a detective and every episode involved him solving a crime. The show stopped airing in 2006.
Baantjer het Begin is the prequel for the revival of the TV show, a spin-off with different actors. The movie is a stand-alone and was all about solving a big crime plot in Amsterdam in the 1980’s. A lot of action and suspects, which made it an exciting movie to watch.
I hope that you’ll give Dutch movies a go. And to be honest, I think I must too… Maybe I just don’t appreciate them as much as I should. But I will always prefer English/American movies above Dutch ones!
Take a look at the previous Let’s talk blog posts:
Let’s talk music
Let’s talk movie posters
Let’s talk books (and movies)
Let’s talk favorite characters
Let’s talk Pride Movies
Let’s talk development in animated movies
Let’s talk 2019
Let’s talk awards
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