Baantjer: Het begin

This Dutch film is set in 1980, at the time of the coronation of Queen Beatrix. Detective Jurre de Cock has just transferred from a small village; he is partnered with Amsterdam native Detective Tonnie Montijn. Tonnie introduces him to the seedier side of the city; the red light district and the various squats. De Cock soon learns that this is a place where the police are expected to take backhanders and brutal suppression of squatters and activists is considered acceptable. After chasing a suspect de Cock finds a body in one of the city's canals; Tonnie suggests it is just some drunk who fell in but as the case progresses it soon becomes clear it was murder... possibly part of a plot to attack the coronation. To complicate matters for de Cock he starts to take a romantic interest in Tonnie's sister, Pein, who is with the protesters; something that could but them both in danger.

I thought this was a solid, gritty thriller. It has the feel of a '70s cop drama; which is appropriate as it is set only a few months into 1980. The story works well with introductions to key characters before the discovery of the body sets the plot rolling. There are some good twists as the story progresses; these came as a genuine surprise to me. There is some action; a foot chase through the red light district; rioting and some shooting but no cliché car chases or explosions. The cast does a fine job most obviously Waldemar Torenstra as de Cock, Tygo Gernandt as Tonnie and Lisa Smit as Pien. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of gritty police dramas.

These comments are based on watching the film in Dutch with English subtitles.

I watched Baantjer Het Begin yesterday at the cinema and i was blown away, based on watching the trailer i expected it to be good and i was right. The movie is set in a dark gritty and dirty Amsterdam in 1980, full of violent cops, prostitutes and squaters. The film takes place a few days before queen Beatrix gets crowned, newbie Jurre de Cock (Waldemar Torenstra) starts his first day at the police station. And soon teams up with the experienced kinda dirty cop Tonnie (Tygo Gernandt at his best), i won't reveal too much but it's the best dutch movie i've seen in years. And political incorrect as they come, squaters getting beaten up by the police. And one hell of a brutal interrogation scene, so you don't have to worry about it having a lack of action, and the acting is top notch. They did a great job on this one, i hope the movie wins a golden calf.

OK, this is not bad for Dutch standards but I don't like it either. At least it doesn't have a cast of all the popular teen soap stars of the moment like most Dutch movies. But apart from the main character being called Jurriaan de Cock this has nothing to do with the Baantjer books. It seems they only adopted this name because it's very popular in the Netherlands, but this Jurriaan de Cock seems to be a completely different person than the one from the books. Cheap action flick, film noir, blah

But it's still one of the best Dutch productions and greatest movies our country has to offer. It's a good story, the cinematography is great and the acting supurb. Especially Tygo Gernandt, who plays his role magnificently!

Okay, the armosphere and sets give you the idea it really is a time warp back to the years of the story. The bad cop interrogation is unnecessary and not like Baantjer would have written a script. Also he would be disgusted by the many swearing and cursing, something he always did not like about the TV series made. Some scenes are funny and touching but leaves some questions unanswered at the end. Waldemar and Tygo play great must be stated.