De grot

I saw this movie by accident yesterday at a cinema. I had some hopes for the movie because I really like Spoorloos (The Vanishing) and the book it's based on. The movie starts out okay as it at first seems to be a nice thriller. Quickly though the movie becomes a mess with uninteresting plotlines, characters that are never fleshed out and nobody in the audience cared for (like Marjoke) and terrible editing. The movie has fade to black bits that are just way too long, a messed up chronology that jumps back and forth and lots of scenes that just don't add anything to the story and could easily have been dropped. After suffering through the story you'll get treated to one of the worst endings I've seen in a very long. It should also be mentioned that the movie has lots of explicit sex scenes which you're probably used to if you watch a lot of dutch movies. It's hard to mention any good things about this movie. About a third of the audience had already walked out of the theater halfway into the movie and I didn't hear a kind word after the movie was over. Avoid this movie at all costs. it really destroyed any faith I had left in the dutch movie industry.

The quality of De Grot is above average: you won't get bored, the development of the characters is consistent, the acting is good.

Even the children act good. It looks good, the sound is good, the editing is good.

Nevertheless, I have the feeling that there is one recurring flaw in Koolhoven's work, also in AmnesiA, the film he made just before this one. Too often scenes, dialogues, settings are too explanatory. If there is something we should not miss as an audience it is pushed in our face or said explicitly. A quote from De Grot: "At the time, you chose me as a friend merely to have someone look up to you". As if we couldn't see that ourselves! Or if we didn't notice, leave it unsaid, we will get it in some way or another anyway. Or a woman that says to her man out of the blue "what do you think about our relationship?" is way too explicit to demonstrate that something is wrong between them. I prefer to have a wealth of little subtle suggestions I may or may not pick up, it might work unconsciously. Never do I have the feeling that there is much of that in his work. Even Hollywood action movies assume more movie literacy.

With nudity he is too explicit also. I have had long discussions with Martin on this in the newsgroup nl.kunst.film but he is convinced that he can show whatever he feels like. I disagree strongly, only show if it is needed, and often the nudity in his films is not.

Pointless nudity in films also happens to be a persistent and decades old cliché about Dutch films, Martin apparently has no intention to restrain himself either.

Lastly, I have one objection to the oeuvre of Koolhoven so far.

Although he visually certainly has a unique signature in his work, thematically it remains quite superficial. In spite of his love for authors cinema and the freedom he has had so far to make author films, he does not seem ready (yet?) to reveal thematic concerns in his work. Perhaps I expect too much, but perhaps he dares not to make himself vulnerable yet, although he should. My compliments for style and craftsmanship, but without some more soul in his work it will never become the work of a genius. But he should be given all the means to make a larger oeuvre and might get to that one day.

The movie starts in killing suspence and ends in a typical way according to the writer's style (Krabbe). A must see for every filmfan capable of speaking Dutch. The DVD has been released and is worth the effort of walking to the shops. Dutch movies are never a succes unless they are shallow and action-minded and so was this film a total flop.

Broaden your horizon and see this movie!

This film, directed by Netherlands' Martin Koolhaven, is worth paying to see for the price of 8 bucks. It's a dramatic and character-driven tale, adapted from Tim Krabbe's novel. It's told by merging past and present events. The dialogue is cold and precise – appropriate to the characters. In this coming-of-age story, there's a strong corruption theme that leads to a couple of temporal crises -- drug running and mid-life! The adult and young actors are well matched for their character roles.

The thrilling flow of back and forth flash-takes offers different time frames, involving the lives of several characters. Fedja Van Huet as the adult Egon, and Erik Van der Horst as the young Egon, will leave viewers with very powerful food for thoughts about peer influences. Yep, a provokingly scary thought that a young man's destiny is determined by the strong forces of relationships – thematically similar to some of Thomas Hardy's works. Marcel Hensema as the adult Axel, and Benja Bruijning as the young Axel, energize the film with their charismatic, domineering, and psychological ploys. "People are lazy; they'd rather obey than have to think up something to want. They're grateful when you think of something for them." Axel's law? Perhaps! Axel truly belongs to the cheaters and seducers of society! With regard to their traits, manners, and ambitions, Egon and Axel couldn't have been better examples of two men sitting at the opposite ends of a pole.

The theme of opposites does come into play repeatedly. Attention should be given to Kim Huffman's Marcy and Kelly Touwslager's Marjoke to fully understand how the two relate at the end. Character development and motivation are well focussed throughout this film.

The concentration is on the 30-year Egon-Axel relationship to justify how persuasion could bring the downfall of a seemingly promising and sensible young man. For Egon to shake off Axel is like shaking off his own shadow. Done in a psychologically complex weaving of character presentations, this film does provide imaginative and suspenseful tension. It allows the characters to come together as young teens, settle them in separate frontiers, before re-uniting them for the final destinies.

Truly a satisfying psycho-thriller about friendship, desires, destiny and treason (amazingly, these themes came through with another film, "The Crime of Father Amaro", too!) It's fascinating to watch the characters trying to weigh their own identities. The film has some visually graphic sex scenes. Dialogue fluctuates between Dutch and English.

'De Grot' is a terrific Dutch thriller, based on the book written by Tim Krabbé. Another of his books, 'Het Gouden Ei' was made into the great Dutch mystery thriller called 'Spoorloos' ('The Vanishing') in 1988. This one is not as good as that thriller (although much better than the American remake also called 'The Vanishing') but there are times it comes close.

Especially the opening moments are terrific. We see a man, later we learn his name is Egon Wagter (Fedja van Huêt), coming from a plane in Thailand. When he picks up his bags it is pretty clear that he is smuggling something across the border. These scenes are perfectly directed, photographed and acted. A kind of suspense is created that you would normally not have in an opening scene like this. Later we see how Egon makes his deal in Thailand with a woman, both stating that they have never done anything like this.

From this point the movie is constantly flashback and flash-forward. We see how Egon, still as a child (here played by Erik van der Horst), befriends a guy named Axel (as a kid played by Benja Bruijning). We learn how they grew up as friends, sort of, and how Axel (as an adult played by Marcel Hensema) became a criminal. Egon in the meanwhile goes to college and settles with a woman. Around this time he sometimes meets Axel but does not really want anything to do with him.

The movie is chronological in a way. It shows Egon and Axel as kids, than as students, young adults, and in their mid-thirties. But from time to time, like I said, the movie goes back to when they were kids and jumps forward again. Every time we see them as kids it explains something that happens when they are adults.

Minor spoilers herein.

The title means 'The Cave', and it is the cave that gives the movie its happy ending, although it is in fact not that happy. Like the beginning, the ending is terrific. The middle part of the movie is entertaining and in a way it distracts our attention of the first scenes, only to come back at that point in the end. It is the editing that gives the movie its happy ending, although we can say the dramatic ending is happy in a way as well.