La découverte du ciel

After going to the cinema to view this unusual movie, we decided to purchase it when it came out on DVD. After viewing it again, we were glad we purchased this movie. Jeroen Krabbe did a splendid job of directing it, and the cast was perfect for their roles. I am trying to obtain a copy of this book in English, and my boyfriend has read it in its original language and loved it very much. We give it a definite 2 thumbs up!

Casting is brilliant (apart from the 5 year old Quintin who had a funny foreign/cockney mixed accent which threw me, but luckily he's only got a short part in the film). Usually I can't see Stephen Fry without getting irritated, but he Is Onno Quist! Jeroen Krabbé as usual gave himself a nice little part in the film he was directing... All in all a fitting tribute to a brilliant book, and ok, yes the end is a bit dodgy but then again the end of the book was the same and if you think about it, there was no other way to end the story... Usually if I go to see 'the film of the book' I'm left feeling disappointed, but this time I was pleasantly surprised.

Holland seems to squeeze out a couple of good films every once in a while, like Soldier of Orange or Left Luggage. The Discovery of Heaven is another one. Again directed (like Left Luggage) by Jeroen Krabbé (who also stars (AGAIN)). I can understand that the film is not for everybody, but I liked it, even though I am of the generation that is used to big explosions, a lot of action and no story. The film is in English, so you won't have to struggle with that stupid Dutch and I sincerely thank Krabbé for filming Harry Mulisch's classic book entirely in English, for otherwise, I would not have seen it. It sure is the best Dutch film of the 21st century. Keep it up.

7 out of 10

Of course, the book was too good to make it into a movie. Nevertheless, the film is entertaining for non-readers and is above all, it's an equivocal enterprise. Acting is not very convincing (ada is terrible played, and humiliating is the acting of Krabbé himself, why does he always want to be "in the picture"?). The book is 900 pages and you can't fit that in two hours. The magical atmosphere, the unreal aura, and the creative style are not recognizable in the film. For example; the interventions from God and his angels are ridiculous as you see the film, where in the book, it's strange, magical and structuring. Another example; the friendship between Onno and Max is heavenly in the book, fragmentary in the film. For me, it was a 6/10; if you want a 10/10 go and read the book. But i know, it's "time-consuming" as they say, and time still seems to be money, bullsh*t of course! Time is life, time is the discovery of a heavenly book...

I went to see Discovery of Heaven with a lot of anticipation. Having read the book it's based on by Harry Mulisch, and loving it, I really wanted this picture to succeed. But you've got to be honest and understand that a 900 page epic spanning 3 generations and so many different locations is impossible to translate to a movie no longer than about 135 min., right?.. Wrong!! I'm extremely pleased to say that Jeroen Krabbé has done the -almost- impossible and pulled it off! He translated the book into an amazing piece of cinema wich sets new standards for motion-picture in the Netherlands, and may well be one of the best foreign language films of this year.

Just like the book, the movie has so many layers on wich it works. You've got the wonderful, extremely well acted, roles of Onno Quist (Stephen Fry), Max Delius (Greg Wise) and Ada Brons (Flora montgomery). And although they all acted very well, it was Stephen Fry's role wich is most memorable. With extreme charisma and charm he brings the role of the exentric Onno to life in a magnificent way. Then there is the screenplay, wich so brilliantly succeeds in summarazing the book and making sure all the important elements of the book are in place. And better still, it adds to the book on numorous levels, giving extra emotion to key scenes and extra meaning to certain themes. The screenwriter Edwin de Vries had a difficult task but he succeeded, with help of Mulisch himself, in creating a captivating story wich never bores throughout.

I could go on much longer now, covering about any aspect of the picture (most of it with praise), but I won't. I just want to finish with a big thanks to Krabbé and the whole crew who worked on this picture. You've pulled it off brilliantly, and brought a bright shining light in the otherwise often relatively dull Dutch Cinema.

Final score, a solid 9 out of 10!