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.

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!

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

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.

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.