Simon

This movie is about an unlikely friendship. Right at the start of it you learn that one of them is gay and polite, and the other is an outspoken, humorous heterosexual that has cancer, and might die sometime soon. The movie then goes back and forth along some fourteen years, starting with the day these guys met.

Sounds simple? You are in for some surprises. This is not just a film about a guy that is quite obnoxious and irresistibly lovely at the same time. It is also about being yourself, shy or not, and living in a country that has more tolerance to cultural diversity. But mostly about this man that always tries to do the right thing, and enjoy his life, and have a laugh with his friends, even as it looks like death might come sooner than expected. I love this guy. And the Netherlands never looked that much beautiful on film.

This film is extremely well elaborated. Without spoiling the movie for you, basically, Simon is a sad story between a drug-dealing, "living la vida loca" young man, and a gay man he unexpectedly met.

14 years later, they meet again, but this time, the situation is totally different.

The filmmakers do an excellent job at the beginning of the movie, that is, making people dive deep into the story, the characters and the general atmosphere. This has as consequence, later after the middle of the movie, that the filmmakers start playing with the audience's emotions, leveraging on all the details presented during the beginning to force the audience into the main topic of the movie.

The second half of the movie is the sad part of it. There, the lives of all the people involved are bound together by an unexpected tragedy. The film has an obvious ending, but during that time, the audience's feelings and emotions are constantly touched and moved. This emotional play is perfect for the deep meanings of the movie: a reflexion and the presenting of different perspectives of homosexuality, drugs, sex and eutanasia.

This movie is about a wide variety of emotions, topics and people. The dialogs are brilliant. Simon has a hilarious sense of humor, but his character, like the others in the movie, is still very well portrayed. All typical dutch subjects like gay-marriage, soft-drugs, euthanasia, etc., are handled in a way that it is still convincing. The last part, where euthanasia becomes the main topic, is where the movie rises above a good comedy and becomes a great comedy/drama instead. The acting in the last part is so brilliant that it almost feels like it is shot for real.

Certainly a movie to recommend, and I think that even when it is translated (with a possible loss of dialog)it is still a movie worth seeing! But see a subtitled version and not a synchronized voice-over version, for the latter will be terrible

I've read the reviews here, most of them from people living in the Netherlands. This movie seems to polarize these folk in ways that must be unique to the Dutch. I'd like to comment on it from a different cultural perspective.

Reviewers here make the point repeatedly that this is a quintessentially Dutch movie, and more or less insist that you have to be Dutch to comprehend it in toto. That may be true. I know a little German, enough to have heard the cadences and staccato rhythms in the dialog. And I could tell that the English translation, although working hard, was probably not able to do justice to the actual words. This is an instance where a dubbed version might be an improvement for non-Dutch speakers.

As an American, and a gay man, I found this movie totally accessible. The subject of euthanasia was not especially controversial to me, having known many gay men who chose that route in the 80s. Nor did the interaction between the two friends seem that unusual. I've had close friends who were straight and we could talk to each other in the same blunt, joking way Simon and Camiel do. I think this story could have been set in many other urban communities around the world, not just Amsterdam.

So I guess I'm saying I don't think this story is uniquely Dutch by any means. That it has an extra dimension for the Dutch because of the language, however, seems likely.

I liked the structure of the film, I liked the close and choppy editing, and I liked the progression of the story. In many ways the film's style is as unsentimental as the story, and that seemed appropriate.

I saw Simon in the cinema and it was a fantastic experience. Simon is a summary of Dutch culture and especially the Amsterdam subculture. The actors are all standouts in this movie and have the performances of their careers. I agree with previous comments that Cees Geel's performance was Oscarworthy. I watch movies everyday and I must say Simon was the best I have seen in YEARS! First of all, Simon is about Holland. Holland was once famous for windmills, cheese, tulips and wooden shoes. These days we (the Dutch) are famous for gay marriage, euthanasia, legalized prostitution, legalized marihuana use and islamofascist murders. In other countries themes like these give people the feeling of a modern Sodom & Gomorra.

This movie sets the right mood from the start. It is a commercial for modern, Western liberal countries where everyone can be their full self. Simon is a drug dealing, swearing, unemployed guy, who sheets on his girlfriend. Yet, you cannot dislike him! He is charismatic, funny, good at heart and completely original. His friendship with Camiel is somehow weird, as he is a gay, shy dentist student. Their friendship suffers a setback and they meet back after 14 years. Camiel and Simon team up with their entire group of friends and offspring to give Simon the best last days of his life.

This movie is important, because it reflects exactly what people in the '90s wanted Holland to be. I can cry at what my country has become of these days, but I can also smile at the warm intentions of what it once inspired to be. People all over the world, watch this movie! It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, but it will also make you think.

Eddy Terstall thank you for this fantastic achievement. This movie will be remembered someday and be seen as an international classic.