Phileine zegt sorry

This was the first Dutch movie I've ever seen in the theaters. I've got the book, though I've only read the first couple of chapters. I suppose I really should go back and read it further, because it started out cool, I just got distracted.

The author of the book actually says in the movie that he likes the book better than the movie, and oh can I believe it! I really didn't expect anything like this... one of the main reasons I went was because a friend of mine wanted to go and stare at Michiel Huisman. I was seriously impressed. It had everything from fun to anger to.. how the actors dealt with the final scenes was absolutely breathtaking, sitting on the edge of your seat drama. Let's just say this movie has everything from throwing rocks through windows (don't ask) to pretending to come in a classy New York restaurant (as I said, don't ask) and a pornographic version of Romeo and Juliet (I think the only lines in it were: "Where for art thou, Romeo?" and a whole lot of groans...) and an absolutely beautifully shown character development.

Right. I'm practically rambling. I'll make my point. I enjoyed this movie. It had a bit of everything and I left the theater happy. I gave it an 8/10.

I have not read the novel but I liked this picture because of the many quick mood changes.

There are so many emotions that change quickly all the time. One time the characters in the picture are serious and then one minute later everyone is laughing. And the next minute Philene and Max have some sort of serious conversation. You maintain watching this picture because all emotions occur so fast after one another.

What I also liked in this picture was the age of the characters. It looks like they are in their mid-twenties or something. I can imagine that the same story could apply to teenagers but also to people above 60.

That's my opinion. Nice movie!

I have read the book and I laughed. I saw the movie on the Dutch Film Festivl and I laughed. I'm thinking back to the scene where Phileine is intending to give Max the pleasure of his life and I'm laughing. This is by far the most humoristic Dutch movie I saw in my life!

Well, I have to admit that I (like most of the people from Holland) think most of the Dutch movies are plain bad. Seriously. Most of the time, I even got a good reason for that because most Dutch movies are bad. But it wouldn't be fair if I'd call this movie bad.

Phileine zegt sorry is a very good movie to Dutch standards. OK, Ronald Giphart is definitely not the most literal Dutch writer and he really overuses sex in his books, but isn't that typical for Dutch writers? In fact, aren't Dutch movies known for that too? Turkish Delight is a good Dutch movie, yet has a lot of sex in it. Oh well, I think I should tell you what makes me like this movie, not what makes it less bad.

I think Kim van Kooten is great as Phileine. OK, she might overdo the bitchiness sometimes, but most of the time the girl's just good. She has a good timing for one-liners and even though even I (as a 16 year old... No, we're not brainless) think Ronald Giphart overuses cursing in his books, Kim van Kooten makes Phileine enjoyable to look at and listen to.

I really like the movie's soundtrack, as, throughout the movie, it just seems to fit in the place where it is.

I like a lot of the scenes in the movie, as I think there's enough emotion in it to make it an enjoyable movie. Yes, call me crazy, but I thought the end-scene was very emotional. This might be because I'm still young and I have no life-experience whatsoever, or something, but just because I'm a teenager doesn't mean I'm emotionless.

But there are some bad points in the movie too. For example, the dutch actors that pretend to be American. Bad English or American accents in a movie really irritate me, and because a lot of Dutch people don't have a perfect English accent I don't think they should be portrayed as English or American. I found this especially annoying in Kenan Raven's case. But then again, I think Kenan Raven is annoying to begin with. His face looks completely emotionless to me.

I thought some scenes in the movie were pointless. For example, you had Gulpje and the guy from the restaurant. The whole restaurant scene was rather pointless, just like a few other scenes.

But I liked most of the movie. I don't think everyone will like it as it's dutch and therefore a bit sexistic, but I do recommend it to people my age.

7/10.

'Phileine zegt sorry' is an adaptation of a Ronald Giphart novel (he's in the film, praising the film as better than the book). His novels are notorious for sexual explicitness, humor and lightness of tone. The film manages to capture this tone. This makes it an entertaining film with Ally MacBeal-like effects to emphasize the emotions of the lead character (Phileine). The cosmopolitan attitude of the characters, the sexual explicitness and the place of action (New York) gives it a Sex and the City touch. So the atmosphere is OK. However the film just doesn't give enough story to make it great. In the book this lack isn't a problem, however film is (as we all know) a different medium. The story line is too thin and sometimes not very credible. This is also due to the the low level performance of some the actors (especially the 'American' characters). Kim van Kooten however gives a superb performance and is a good enough reason to go and see it.

So 'Phileine zegt sorry' is not a memorable meal but a nice expensive snack.