Baantjer het begin

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.

I watched Baantjer Het Begin yesterday at the cinema and i was blown away, based on watching the trailer i expected it to be good and i was right. The movie is set in a dark gritty and dirty Amsterdam in 1980, full of violent cops, prostitutes and squaters. The film takes place a few days before queen Beatrix gets crowned, newbie Jurre de Cock (Waldemar Torenstra) starts his first day at the police station. And soon teams up with the experienced kinda dirty cop Tonnie (Tygo Gernandt at his best), i won't reveal too much but it's the best dutch movie i've seen in years. And political incorrect as they come, squaters getting beaten up by the police. And one hell of a brutal interrogation scene, so you don't have to worry about it having a lack of action, and the acting is top notch. They did a great job on this one, i hope the movie wins a golden calf.

Skimming rapidly over choices of what to watch I stumbled upon this little diamond in the rough. It's becoming increasingly difficult to find anything to watch these days. The entertainment industry has gone from bad to worse in recent years notably in terms of quantity versus quality. There's no shortage of what to watch but most of it's terrible. This title could have easily been looked over and lost in the thick sauce of half baked productions. But no, it came in much better than expected. And my demands are very high seeing that I lived in Amsterdam in the late 70s. I am also a stickler for historical accuracy. This one has it right nicely down to the old pre-euro currency denominations in Holland and Belgium as well as Amsterdam cop cars and uniforms of the era. Even the landmarks of a more trivial nature hold their own such as the location of one of the city's hospitals and a "telefoon" booth overlooking a RLD canal in the Jordaan (don't quite recall if there was one). The car models, license plates and taxi meters all accurate. Long story short this crime drama was incredibly accurate and directed by someone who takes great pride in depicting Amsterdam of the 80s. There were a few too many generic labyrinth like non existent alleyway scenes but otherwise historical punctuality in my opinion. I would have liked to have seen a few more easily identifiable streets such as Warmoesstraat and Zeedijk depicted but close enough. The plot built around a Buddy cop team with a ball busting chief was also quite formulaic. But not to worry there's a pretty decent twist thrown in and the plot layers mesh well too. All in all a groot thumbs up voor this one.

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.

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.