Van de koele meren des doods

"Ridiculous." That is about the only word that can be used to describe this wreck of a movie. The dialog is awful, the acting even more so. It is just completely and utterly unbelievable. Not one second could you take the main character seriously. Yes, she is quite disturbing in the book too, but the movie just completely ruins her character. The acting is so bad, it's almost hilarious, but unfortunately, this movie really isn't supposed to be a comedy.

This movie should not have been made. If you enjoyed the book by Frederik van Eeden, please do not harm yourself by watching this atrocity. That is, of course, unless you thoroughly enjoy movies with bad dialogue and bad acting.

Granted, I never read the book, so maybe it does the book a disservice. That said, I thought the acting was very good. I see that some people on here think the acting sucked, but the acting is outstanding. The dialog may have some weak scenes, but overall, I didn't find it unnatural or clumsy. I've seen bad examples of both ( just watch a lesser known 50's Hollywood film noir on YouTube... you'll see what I mean). The part where the pianist goes down on Hetty is unrealistic though; it takes way longer to bring a woman to orgasm that way. Just sayin'. Lol Anyway, at face value, I really thought it was worth watching. Also, beautiful photography.

This is a rather splendid film which has been forgotten by film history. Because it is Dutch, it has gone by quite unremarked, although it was a success on release. This is European 'art-film' at its best: high quality, well written and expertly directed. And superbly entertaining at that. But most of all: a stunning performance from lead actress Soutendijk, who could and should have gone on to greater things. For about ten years, she appeared in challenging and often demanding roles in remarkable Dutch and German films (Meisje met het rode haar, Vierde Man, Spetters, Wo immer du bist). Then she went to America and blew it. Nowadays, European art cinema is dead and she's left making TV-fare. A cinema that has no room for the talents of Soutendijk is quite dead and buried. See this magnificent film at all costs.

This film is almost as good as it's original (the book). I would even dare say it might very well be one of the best Dutch movies of all time. The line-up is great, all actors are still working as an actor, but most of them never came near this achievement again. Where ever you may be from, it really would be worth your while to trace this film and watch it.

This movie is really bad. It has it's moments but it's another Dutch B-movie. Explicit sex and bad audio. The audio is not cync with the movie and the actors speak like they are performing a play in front of a large crowd. This makes it unnatural to hear. The acting is a bit stiff and slow, it had a good beginning but moves towards complete boringness. The story is okay, it's of course from a book written in the beginning of 1900's. But still this movie isn't there, directing is boring and standard, acting is boring and stiff. The only thing that is pretty big for a Dutch movie are the sets with lots of extras running around and some nice photographic shots.

This movie needs a remake.