The Storm

A real-world tragedy deserves a respectful recounting of events. But this movie opted to reïmagine the dramatic Christmas flood of 1953 in an absurd fictional storyline where the plot and the characters are so shallow you start wondering what the problem is. De Storm fails as a historical film, fails as a drama and fails as a thriller.

The film promotes the dated idea that "a woman needs a man no matter how strong she is". Additionally, it praises idiotic actions of stupidity as "heroic rescue attempts". None of the actors managed to deliver their lines with any level of truth. And I would not have been able to muster the two stars I rated it if the special effects hadn't been this decent.

De Storm, in essence, is an insult to the victims of the flood and a disgrace to Dutch filmmaking. Tedious, disastrously dated and offending.

It is good to refresh yourself on this century's Dutch cinema, and this beautifully and well constructed film on the flood disaster of 1953 is well worth watching. To be honest I was expecting more of a disaster spectacle, but instead I saw a film about grief and the search for a missing child. The flood itself is expertly filmed, using I think original footage and as the Dutch are masters of documentary the film did not fail on this level. Sylvia Hoeks gives a perfect performance as the mother searching the follow day among the wreckage for the infant she lost. Zeeland is or was a very pious part of Holland and prejudices against anyone who went or go against the ' norm ', based mainly on religion, are considered outcasts, even in their families, and this mother has an illegitimate child. In her search for the child she is joined up by the errant father's brother, and the love story that ensues is deeply moving. No spoilers but to mention the last part of the film left me feeling desolate., and rightly so. The tone of the film catches every nuance of loss and the tragedy of loss and as I said the grief element is in my opinion at the heart of the film. This should not put any viewer off from watching this superbly crafted piece of cinema, and the catharsis that I felt after it was over was well worth experiencing. I did not find fault with the dedicated acting, nor the direction and Sylvia Hoeks gives, and I repeat, a performance above criticism, and every shift of emotion or sudden happiness shows on her beautiful face. I am not sure if this masterful work has been seen elsewhere, and if not, why not ? As the subject matter is timeless, encapsulating a terrible moment in 20th C. History it will always be relevant especially in this era of brutal weather changes. I urge viewers to hunt this film down, and there is English subtitles on the Dutch DVD release. Is it a great film ? I think so, and will watch it many times, as it gives so much to humanity and what it should be at its best.

Really, just read the book. I cannot even begin to compare it to this film. Bad acting, bad lines, wrong accents, and a thousand things missing in (and different to) the storyline.

The book catches the feelings and circumstances of main character Julia so well, you'll actually start feeling the same way she does and will want to pursue her goal of finding her baby even beyond the very end. The true tragedy and injustice of her situation will still hold you in it's grasp for a long time after finishing the book.

By the by, also there is more attention to the flooding and it's consequences to the people living there.

(Book is called '1953' by Rik Launspach)

I looked forward to this movie, because of the true story of the Storm in 1953. I was very disappointed. The flood came immediately in the beginning, you didn't even know the characters yet. The flooding itself was good to see. However, the main character Julia was very unlikeable and the acting was terrible. There was no emotion in her acting, even though her sisters and mother were dead and here baby was missing. The same look for the hole movie. The storyline was really unbelievable and the end.. well, you should see it to believe how terrible it is. The characters were in the water for a long time, that would not have been possible because of the temperature of the water. Maybe it was because I had too high expectations, but as i said, I was really disappointed.

We had the privilege to see this movie on his World Premiere in Vlissingen. The actual area where this took place.

It was also the start of the "Film by the Sea" film festival and the whole Dutch film world was invited.

It is a beautiful film, well done with special effects which you don't see actually and a gripping story. All the performances are believable and if you like "De Tweeling" and "Bride Fligt" from the same director then you have to see this movie ! After the screening there was a huge party and we met a lot of famous actors from the Netherlands. We had a great night ! So for me this is a 8 out of 10.

Enjoy the movie, we did !

Michel van Dam The Netherlands.