Van God Los

This movie is loosely based on real events, and that's also pretty much the feel it has to it: real. This movie is not a vivid, lively crime drama, it's definitely no "Goodfellas" rip-off, it's one of the grayest and most depressing movies I've ever seen. The colors look, wait, what colors? The acting is excellent all around, I can't believe how convincing everyone's accent is. The plot is very basic and raw, even though the girlfriend issues do tend to get tiresome near the end. What I love most though is the ending narration, which consists of the most deadpan monologue ever. Those who can't be moved by this film have no pulse.

To start off; i liked this film, particularly Tygo Gernandt's acting was plainly brilliant. The sorry thing about dutch films is, that mainly stage actors appear in dutch productions. Obviosously dutch directors find it very difficult to direct acclaimed theater actors, let alone telling them that stage acting(e.g. articulation and exaggerated physical expression) is a big no-no film acting. The southern dutch accent is very well performed by Tygo en Egbert, however most of the other actors 'slip back' to a pathetic attempt, particularly the ( here I go again) stage actors. The directing and the editing of this movie were very undutch and therefor very strong, the acting however........ three great actors can never compensate 10 mediocre to sloppy actors. Conclusion: A more dedicated and disciplined director combined with a less conservative casting director could have lifted this flick to a higher level and in the process would have put dutch film-making on the map.

I've seen quite a lot of movies, also quite some Dutch ones. Most of them suck quite heavily or are far too commercial, therefore i didn't expect much from Van God Los. But i was wrong.

The movie is very catchy, as it is being told from the perspective of Stan, a young Gymnasium student, who dislikes school and is mostly found being out on the streets. His parents don't care for him much, so he is quite left alone. Then he meets Maikel and they become very close friends. They start with some small illegal businesses, but end up being hired killers.

The story being told from a main character perspective, with commenting on Stan's thoughts, is quite unusual for Dutch movies and almost gives it a Hollywood feeling, with links to movies like the Godfather series. This makes the movie very impressive and really gets you into the main character and his feelings.

When the movie ended, i almost felt the urge of applauding for it, but since the entire cinema was silent, so was i. It was clear to see that this movie made a great impression on all viewers, it was a long time ago i heard so little noise when all people left their seats. This movie is in my opinion already a (Dutch) classic! A must see!

Really nice movie!! I saw this movie yesterday and I really enjoyed it. The movie starts a bit slow but after the introduction of the characters it really becomes a good story. We see the story through the eyes of Stan Meijer who gets the wrong friends. They start with little crimes, but once they get hired by the Turkish mafia the crimes get bigger and bigger. Go see this movie!!

At first i was drawn in when i heard it was about a gang of teenage killers - based on a true story. The story is quite raw, sometimes a bit shocking. Excellent acting from Egbert Jan Weeber, who plays the lead role of Stan. The movie is quite depressing at times though. Van God Los ( or Godforsaken) is about three teenage boys who begin to kill before for the mafia boss - this is where the "Godfellas" part comes in. I didn't think this movie was mind-blowing or amazing. It was an okay movie ; i thought the acting was great. Some scenes in the film are very violent, and it's shocking to see how out of control they get, especially the character Maikel - in various scenes in the movie - especially near the end ! I thought there would've been a better ending though - it was unpredictable, which is always interesting.