Baantjer: Het begin

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!

Amsterdam in the early 80's. Great acting, suspense and good story. Really enjoyed this!

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.

Skimming rapidly over choices of what to watch I stumbled upon this little diamond in the rough. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find anything to watch these days. The entertainment industry has gone from bad to worse in recent years notably in terms of quantity versus quality. There's no shortage of what to watch but most of it's terrible. This title could have easily been looked over and lost in the thick sauce of half baked productions. But no, it came in much better than expected. And my demands are very high seeing that I lived in Amsterdam in the late 70s. I am also a stickler for historical accuracy. This one has it right nicely down to the old pre-euro currency denominations in Holland and Belgium as well as Amsterdam cop cars and uniforms of the era. Even the landmarks of a more trivial nature hold their own such as the location of one of the city's hospitals and a "telefoon" booth overlooking a RLD canal in the Jordaan (don't quite recall if there was one). The car models, license plates and taxi meters all accurate. Long story short this crime drama was incredibly accurate and directed by someone who takes great pride in depicting Amsterdam of the 80s. There were a few too many generic labyrinth like non existent alleyway scenes but otherwise historical punctuality in my opinion. I would have liked to have seen a few more easily identifiable streets such as Warmoesstraat and Zeedijk depicted but close enough. The plot built around a Buddy cop team with a ball busting chief was also quite formulaic. But not to worry there's a pretty decent twist thrown in and the plot layers mesh well too. All in all a groot thumbs up voor this one.

As a Dutchie, hating on almost every Dutch movie that was ever made, this is the exception I have been hoping for. It is well casted, well acted and for Dutch standards they went above and beyond to make it look and feel like you are in Amsterdam in the 80's. The Amsterdam accent is well done by all the actors, and the clothes and decor are all contributing to a unique feel. The story is also somewhat surprising and unpredictable.