Ja zuster, nee zuster

I grew up with Ja Zuster Nee Zuster in the sixties in the Netherlands and to this day I still whistle many of the tunes from this brilliant children's program that aired '67/'68. The producers could have pumped in some extra money and 'hired' the Dam Square for their dance numbers, but they decided to keep it '67-campy and filmed it on a back lot. Many tongue-in-cheek references to that era: on the TV we see the baptism of Prince Willem Alexander, watch 'het Dafje' driving by, the winking picture of then Queen Juliana. The actors are acceptable, but I reminisce about the original performances by Leen Jongewaard, Hetty Blok and Wim Sonneveld. The current 'Nurse Klivia' does a mediocre 'Groningen' accent and mixes it with an Amsterdam accent. Hetty would cringe... . And yes, Annie M.G. Schmidt did write those lyrics to 'Fuchsia' on purpose. A final word: Please, please a P.C. Hooft Award for Annie. Posthumously, but NOW!

Maybe you won't get to experience a full Castro Theater singing along with the star of the movie, but I think you'll enjoy it almost as much as I did! And while it played in the 27th San Francisco International Lesbian and Gay Film Festival, it isn't really a Gay film. It's just a movie that has a special appeal to a Gay audience. I doubt that most of the audience speaks Dutch. I doubt that most of the audience had ever heard any of the songs. I had no idea that this movie had its origins in a long lost '60s Dutch TV series. None of this mattered. The movie was silly and just plain fun. The characters burst out in song and start dancing. There were bits and pieces that reminded me of '60s American musical and others that reminded me of British sit-coms. There were heroes and villains. There is growth and change. The Dutch Queen even comes to visit. Yes Nurse, No Nurse could never have been made in the US. And that's a good thing.

Today the DVD version of the movie was released in Holland and as a big fan I've just run through the DVD.

A simple, yet effective story line combined with the outstanding music and strong character play makes this an excellent movie for children.

A funny trivia about the movie is, that the movie almost had to be canceled, because the Red Cross organization was not happy with the use of the red cross on the clothing of the main character, Zuster Klivia. Luckily this dispute could be settled and you can see the Zuster with a retouched blue cross cap.

"Ja Zuster, Nee Zuster" originally was a series that ran in the mid sixties in Holland. It depended heavily on the excellent songs and certainly not on intriguing story lines. Because film tapes were expensive in the 60's, other material was recorded over it and for a long time all film material was believed to be lost. Yet in recent years some of the original material was rediscovered.

From this original material 15 songs were selected and added as a bonus to this DVD, making this DVD also a must have for older generations.

Not only did I have more fun watching this DVD than any film, but I did something I never did before--I ended up watching the movie again that very same night! I was utterly charmed by this wonderful Dutch musical-comedy and anticipate that I will probably see it again a few more times--it's THAT good! I think a lot of the reason I loved the movie so much was that while bits and pieces of the film reminded me of other films, overall it was so unique and quirky that it's got to be one of the most original films out there. In addition, when I heard the songs, I couldn't help but swing in rhythm to the bouncy and adorable music! Despite not knowing Dutch and relying on subtitles, I can't think of ANY musical that I enjoyed more because the songs are that catchy and kooky. They all have a charming old fashioned style with wonderfully funny lyrics.

The film itself has an early to mid-1960s look to it and although I noticed in one of the reviews that this movie was based on a TV series, the film looks even more like a film of a play in style. Plus, the sets look very fake, but I don't mean that in a bad way--more like an idealized and perfect world that you know can't exist but you really wish it did! Apart from great music, the film has a wonderful ensemble cast. The standout character is Mr. Boordevol who is a lot like a combination of Sam the Eagle (from The Muppets) and a crazed version of the AFLAC duck! He must have had a wonderful time playing such an outlandish character--and his voice was like something out of a cartoon! Other standout performers were Jet, an incredibly cute and shy young lady who is in love with Garrit, Garrit, a reformed burglar who has a wonderful voice, the Engineer (he has no name--and is just called "Engineer" throughout the film) as well as many, many others.

A word of note to parents--This movie was released by Wolfe Video--a Gay movie distributor. While there are two gay main characters, I really didn't see this as a gay film, per se, but a film about many people--just two of which are gay. And, unless you are ultraconservative, I doubt if you would be offended or mind if your kids watch the film. I am a pretty conservative person myself, but really liked ALL the characters and let my teenager see the film--in fact, I nagged her until she watched it with me!

By the way, it took me three viewings to realize that the plot of this film is a slight reworking of Seuss' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE Christmas! Seriously!!

Only two years, at the end of the sixties, Dutch national tv featured the tv-series Ja zuster, Nee zuster. Intended as a children's programme, writer Annie MG Schmidt added so much refinement to the script that adults (parents or not) were equally keen to watch the adventures of the tenants in a nursing home. Following some misplaced economies, most of the series was not kept for future generations. All this added to the myth of Ja zuster, Nee zuster, a myth that was not entirely shared by Annie Schmidt herself. (BTW The brilliant combination with composer Harry Bannink produced a number of songs, that are still being sung today, 35 years later.) On one hand the movie closely resembles the original tv-series. The characters are similar, and with great care the songs have been re-styled and visualised. The story line has been adapted, hence the greater emphasis on some characters. Again, the movie is full of innuendo, which needs not restrain anyone from viewing. Nowhere it is vulgar. The visualization is brilliant, as are the choreographies. The cast is very well composed, and all characters are played in a very natural way. This might be the first movie in all my life I will go and see more than once in the cinema, before acquiring the DVD for home viewing. Needless to say that this movie deserves the highest acclaim and recommendations.