Siberia

So it is actually funny to see a movie about what we all think when we see you tourists walking around in Amsterdam: You're helpless and clueless. Yes you are! All you're interested in is the red light district and marihuana. This movie is about two "scoundrels" who take advantage of the gullibility of young female backpacking tourists to steal their money and their passports. Then they meet one that is a little cleverer than they think....

The soundtrack is _very_ good (that is if you like loud electronic dance music by JunkieXL) and together with the way this movie is filmed (quick switches between black & white & colour, video and film, nice effects) it gives you the impression of a very long video clip. But a good one at least. Nice shots of the city I know so well, but the directors have escaped the threat of making one of those "holland promotion" things: no shots of people eating salted herrings, no wooden shoes, no windmills and no tulips, Hurray! They have succeeded in showing the city as a young backpaking tourist might perceive it: up and down Damrak, being hassled by dope-selling thugs and pickpockets, spending the day smoking in Bob's youth Hostel (or Freddy's piece hotel as it's called in the movie).

I'm not so impressed by the acting. Fernhout has a highly irritating grin on his face throughout the movie, and Metsers appears just to be playing himself: highly convinced about what a remarkable guy he really is. I happen to think his acting is very mediocre, but you may feel different.

So, not bad on the audio&video level. The story is a bit thin though. But do see for yourself....

The film deals with two apparently heartless, empty men, Goof and Hugo, who seduce tourists and then rob them of their passports and some of their cash. This is until they meet Lara and Goof finds himself too attached to continue his ruthless ways.

In looking at these two empty men, this film seems to ignore the fact that it is as empty and soulless as the two protagonists. The film has a very slight story - so slight that it's hard to care. Basically the two men find their match in the equally untrustworthy Lara, there's also a love triangle plot and a bet. But really it's very thin and without substance.

The performances are pretty good, although Goof is not totally convincing. However the script lets everyone down and the director cannot hide it. The director tries to be as hip as possible (he's obviously seen Trainspotting and the like), he uses a pumping dance soundtrack, he uses different film stocks, slow-mo, different camera angles etc etc. It really like he's making a 90 minute pop video - but that doesn't make a good film, instead it just highlights how empty the whole thing is.

The ending doesn't really mean anything and the film doesn't have any moral or message. Instead this just wants to get a young audience by having drugs and sex, fast music, music video direction and hip, morally ambiguous characters.

After I saw "Karakter" (Character) I knew that in The Netherlands we could also make movies worth looking. This one proves that also. After seeing too many movies with an "American way of life"-look it is a relief to see something completely Dutch. While it's not so perfect as "Character" it's still much better than the average which comes from Hollywood. The actors are exactly at the right place, and the music from Junkie XL is really cool , but I always liked the Prodigy-style.

This is a surprisingly good movie from the people who brought us the Dutch movie Zusje. Although Zusje was a big hit (especially for a Dutch movie) in the Netherlands, this film has had a short cinema rotation due to lack of success. I wonder why. To me Siberia is as good as the first film by Westdijk. Reading the plot makes you wonder if there's any plot at all. The basic story of Siberia seems a bit simplistic at first: two guys (Hugo and Goof) get their kicks from sleeping with female tourists and robbing these girls from their money and passport the morning after. When they meet Lara from Siberia their lives change and their friendship is put to the test. This may seem quite a standard tale, but it's not because of the way the story is told. In it's dynamics and sound it's a bit similar to Lola Rennt: a lot of camera movement, thundering beats in the exiting soundtrack by Junkie XL and as a viewer you can feel the adrenaline as if you're in the movie too. There are blurry black & white shots to make several scenes even more intense. This is one of those movies that have a look and feel of a music video with the way it's directed, but it only accentuates the emotions and actions in Siberia. And although the idea is not knew, Siberia is intriguing and fresh. The acting is terrific and the dialogs are great and sometimes very funny (Hugo gets dressed in the morning after sleeping with a tourist girl, when the girl wakes up: "Hugo?..." "Yes, I Go", Hugo replies). Warning: the film has a very nice ending, after it seems to have ended...!!!

Definitely 9 out of 10 for me.

Badly cut, terrible acting, horrible writing, slick cinematography that just cares about looking good. You're just thinking: 'So What?' Boring and stupid.