Van God Los

This movie surpassed all my expectations. Its very raw in its violence and story. The characters are well developed and the actors that portray them are most excellent.

I couldn't help thinking about "Goodfellas" while watching this movie. Both movies have certain parallels. The main character doesn't begin his life as a criminal and murderer but slowly becomes so and transforms throughout the movie. Also the criminal activities in both movies are quite the same. Still this doesn't mean that "Van God Los" is a cheap Dutch rip-off of "Goodfellas", no not at all! "Van God Los" is a powerful movie on its own that is driven by its well developed characters. The movie has some pretty violent scene's, they were really not holding back here and I found it even quite shocking and disturbing at times but in a good way.

The story is very solid and well written and it's loosely based on true events. Yes people, these events and gangs are so rare in The Netherlands that they make movies about them. All of the events in the movie feel all very realistic which is I think also thanks to the fine actors. But it's not all violence in this movie, the movie is driven by some powerful emotions and the movie has several layers. It's a both powerful emotional movie as well as a violent one. In a way the movie shows that everyone has it in him or her to become a criminal. Basically there is no reason why this couldn't happen to any of you out there.

The movie is very well directed by Pieter Kuijpers, who is a great character director. The fine cinematography by Bert Pot impressed me and the music by 'Het Paleis van Boem' set the mood for the movie perfectly.

To be honest, I was kind of worried when the movie and its narration began. All of the main characters in the movie are speaking with a certain Dutch accent they speak in the southern province Limburg. I'm from the absolute most northern province of The Netherlands and Limburg is the most southern province of The Netherlands. Needless to say that the accents are completely different and in my ears even irritating, than I'm used to. But those worries were all for nothing, you get used to the accents very quick and after a while you don't even really notice them anymore. Of course for all the people outside The Netherlands who don't speak one word of Dutch, this isn't a complaint because they will simply of course not be bothered by it at all.

This movie most certainly surprised me in a positive way and I think that this movie deserves an international audience.

9/10

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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.

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!!

It's well known that Dutch movies have a notoriously (and completely deserved) bad name, but over the last couple of years they're starting to get better, as "Van God Los" clearly exemplifies.

First of all, there's finally some good acting in a Dutch movie, which is rather surprising since most of the main characters are soap actors that normally can't act their way out of cartboard box, but in this movie they all exceed themselves and deliver very convincing parts, complete with believable accents.

The atmosphere has also been done very well..I originally come from the region where the movie takes place, and the director really hit the spot with the ambiance by including things like Carnival parades and lots of greenhouses. Overall, the region comes across as just as dull as it is in reality, which in this case is a definite plus.

The story, although rather predictable (you know that the movie isn't going to end well), is again very plausible and well thought out. The characters show believable emotions and undergo believable developments, and somehow you care for them even though most of them would be aptly described as "scum".

All in all, "Van God Los" is a very realistic, strong and emotional movie that tells a slightly predictable but nonetheless fascinating and tragic story about friendship and crime. Dutch movies are definitely going the right way...

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.