Wilde mossels

A good film about three friends in Zeeland and especcially one of them want to leave his homeplace for good, but nothing seems so eassy. I had heared of the film but I though it was not so a good film. Till somebody said that this film was a good dutch produktion. So I watched it and I was suprised, becausse I was not one moment bored during the movie. I really liked it.

That Zeeland, a region in The Netherlands, is not just a place for summer holidays, is made pretty clear in this stunning movie. I myself a Zeeland-born person was put on by this film in an explicable way.

The essence of this film, trying to leave the region in which you've grown up, is a major problem of youth in peripheric places. 'Wilde Mossels' is therefore not only a poetic portrait of a depressing 'wasteland', but a pointer of social problems. The director brings out these problems accompanied with a large amount of humor, in one respect because of the dialect that is spoken and one the other hand because of the surrealism that is being used. The alcohol and drug abuse (dried mussels) is another aspect that creates a rather depressing portrait of a beautiful region. But that is what makes this movie special: a new approach on an existing image.

My opinion on this film is that it is of a great value within the Dutch movie-business. Absurdism, social engagement, drama and humor isn't only bound to our capital Amsterdam, but can be used in other places as well.

9 out of 10

WIlD MUSSELS I've seen the remastered version is just a film good on all levels; The story is touching, there is surprisingly funny sequences in this tragic story, the soundtrack is just fabulous and the way the lead role is acted by Fedja van Huet ( who also starred in the Oscar winning film Character is amazing. The dialogues are well written by director Erik de Bruyn, who is responsible for the script too. He must have made a great team with his D.o.p. Joost van Gelder. The photography is like the Southern East dutch landscape is divided into paintings and sometimes the camera is unedited and raw. Van Gelder is now shooting worldwide campaigns from his new hometown L.A. And one can see his talent already in this film. The ending apotheosis is just very very well edited. So I need to say that for cinema-lovers, this can't be missed. Check it out!

This movie is shot in Zeeland in the Netherlands, a beautiful area. The movie is about a guy named Leen (Fedja van Huet, nice actor) who has got a lot on his mind. He would like to leave the boring country life. But his mom depends on him, in a very strange way. He has got a lot of other problems, he misses his father who died, he is a little in love with a girl. He hasn't got money or a nice job. Happily he has got two very good friends. With them he survives a lot of funny situations. I really liked the beauty of the shots of the movie. Also the actors in the movie are very talented. But the storyline was very extensive. It has got a lot of subjects, but the movies doesn't end any of these subjects. It's a little bit like a soap, but a very interesting one!

Wilde Mossels is a tale of restlessness. It's a timeless movie about young people who don't want to get stuck in the life there parents have. Leen desperately wants to leave his native village, but can't push himself to actually go. So all that is left is working, drinking beer with his friends, and riding his chopper.

It's a film about boredom, but it's far from boring. The photography is beautiful, the acting is intense, and the sound track is great. And it's not just another heavy drama about angst and pointlessness, it's pretty funny as well. Leen hallucinates about a very strange bit of Ireland, and his best friend Daan delivers some first class one-liners.

A must see for anyone who thinks Dutch films are crap. You're wrong!