sybrandb

I watched this movie yesterday evening. First of all: too bad there was a break, we were just reaching the point where I started wondering whether there would be a happy or a tragic ending. It was remarkable there were almost no scenes in broad daylight. It also struck me the restaurant was almost empty. The atmosphere resembled somewhat the paintings of Dennis Hopper. If you would have told me the story was located in the 50's, I would immediately have believed that. In a way, the story is timeless, and though we are in a city, it is completely unimportant which city this is. You see Edgar one or two times in a tram from the Hague, but you see so little of the city, you don't have the idea the Hague is the location for this movie. The humor is wonderful, many times characters overreact, with as result principal characters end up in funny situations. If you recall the British comedy Fawlty Towers, and like the character of Basil Fawlty, you know what humor to expect.

The series intends to follow the history of the 50s/60s and 70s, and does so closely. The characters however don't evolve at all, which is partly why it remains funny. Jaap Kooyman will always remain a conservative man who doesn't understand a bit of 'modern times'. He will also always do anything to get a promotion at the RET (Rotterdam Public Transport), and always fail. The funny thing also is, when Gerard Cox, the actor in this role, is interviewed for a magazine, or a television, it looks like in this series he is playing himself. Jaap Kooyman is not so much different from Gerard Cox. If Jaap Kooyman would really start to be friendly to homosexuals, or to immigrant workers, the series would be over. Let's hope he doesn't do so, and the series will continue until they hit 1993, when it all started.