Nynke

Friesland (North Netherlands) beginning 20th century, a man and a woman fall in love. He is Pieter Jelles Troelstra, a poet and a passionate socialist. She is destined to be a provincial middle class house wife. "Nynke" shows the struggle of a talented woman, Sjouke Bokma de Boer aka Nynke van Hichtumis, who tried to find her way from whom she was expected to be, to whom she ought to become: an independent person and author.

The film gives a rare glimpse in the family live of a last century politician and is a love story; from naive, passionate love for each other to loosing common ground in 'greater causes'. He became the co-founder of the socialist party and she was a gifted story teller and the author of a famous children's book "Aafkes tiental". During this period in history, women like Nynke were labeled with Hysteria. In fact, their unsatisfying lives lead to depression. The story gives an insight in the conflicts within her and with her environment that crossed the road to recovery, not so different from contemporary, similar topics.

The Dutch occasionally can make good period drama. This is one of them. Well done costumes, good solid acting, beautiful locations and the excellent charm that the movie is mainly in Nynke's mother-tongue: Fries, and not Dutch.

Nynke is a classy filmed movie in the same style as the Oscar winning film Character (1997). But this comparison immediately urges me to add that the latter was quite more exciting...

Sure, Nynke is a beautiful historic & costume drama (with fantastic acting by Monic Hendrickx!) in which you witness the personal growth of 'Nynke van Hichtum' in her marriage to Pieter Jelles Troelstra. The subtitle of this movie is 'a lovestory'. So it starts, and ends with their marriage.

But THAT is where the director makes a crucial mistake! Nynke's exciting, independent life started when the marriage ended. She wrote several children's books and travelled around the world. What a great life she has lived. But Pieter Verhoeff puts Nynke back in the trammels of convention that depressed her and that she struggled out of: the thought that her life extended just her marriage to Troelstra, being no one else but the mother of their kids.

Let's all hope for Nynke II!

This is a film about a middle class house wife (Nynke) at the start of the twentieth century, who is plagued by the hysteria and depressions caused by an empty life. In those days this mental state was fairly normal for married women, in particular since a divorce was awkward, and it was not uncommon to spend some time in mental hospitals. The story of Nynke is outstanding, in that she was the wife of Pieter Jelles Troelstra, the co-founder of the Dutch socialist party and the first leader of the democratic socialists in the Netherlands. Troelstra was an emotional and naturally ambitious man, who became a professional lawyer and an amateur poet. In this episode he met Nynke, and soon married her. It was the typical encounter and bond between a dominant man and a naive woman. After a few more years Troelstra became engaged in the budding socialist movement, and his ambitious nature brought about that the just cause seized almost his complete attention and available time. He was one of the founders of the SDAP (socialdemocrat workers (arbeiders) party, 1896), an in this role he became the Dutch equivalent of Bebel, Jaures, Morris, vanderVelde, and of course Gene Deps. His mission required that he was continuously on his way to all parts of the country, in order to give lectures and address meetings. After several years he also became a parliamentary representative of the SDAP. It goes without saying, that when Nynke married the poet, she had envisioned another life. Occasionally she accompanied Troelstra on his journeys, but she was not by herself addicted to the cause of the proletariat. Logically she and Troelstra grew apart, eventually also physically. This was a far-reaching chance in a time, when divorces were socially hardly tolerated. The disappointment and emptiness threw her into several depressions, caused by lack of self-esteem, which even required treatments by a psychiatrist. It must be noted, that Troelstra himself was sometimes also driven to the verge of a nervous breakdown, because the society pressure on the socialists was immense, and his ambition and perfectionism tended to exhaust him. The separation between Troelstra and Nynke became inevitable, when he started an affair with their housekeeper. Here the film ends. I believe, that Nynke afterward had a productive life as a writer of children's' novels (even while still living together with Troelstra she wrote the regional classic "Aafkes tiental"). For me the film was another illustration that professional success is often incompatible with stable intimate relations. Although the scenes are often emotional, the human touch is never lost, and the characters are strong enough to continue in the possession of glimmering hope. In addition the film gives insight into the manners of the upper middle-class, that ruled the democratic socialism (mostly sincere people, but also the suicide of the writer Cornelie Huygens). As far as I know, the theme of the family life of a leading politician makes this film unique in Europe. The nearest attempt was probably "Rosa Luxemburg" by Von Trotta.

I recently received a dvd of Nynke from a Netherland company. The add for the dvd said that it was in Netherlandish (aka by most as Dutch) with English subtitles, which went against my knowledge that the movie is actually in Frisian. To my delight it is in Frisian with some Netherlandish. However, the subtitles were not in English at all, but only in Netherlandish. I am learning Frisian, but as an American living in the United States, my command of this language is weak at best. Having said all of this, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It was easy enough to understand the jist of the movie; although I'm sure it is far more complex and interesting if you do understand Netherlandish.

If you can see it with subtitles in your own language, then I strongly recommend it. Oant skrieuwen!

A touching movie about a talented woman who struggles with a society and a love that structurally underestimate her. The issues are subtly addressed and timeless, as many of the depicted difficulties between man and woman still exist in Dutch society today. This movie is a tribute to all modern women without dwelling on feminism. Not only the story is well told, the acting and the scenery are great as well.