MovieChat Forums > De dominee (2004) Discussion > Very Dissapointing

Very Dissapointing

posted 20 years ago by viezeric
17 replies | jump to latest

Apart from the movie being shitty in o so many ways, what really pissed me off is:

This script is supposed to draw on Bart Middelburg's book bearing the same name as the movie. That is the biggest crock of sh it I have ever heard. The movie draws on cliche's and bullcrap! I found the story of Klaas Bruinsma life thought-provoking and inspiring (yes, I know that is scary ). Plenty to go on anyway for a [bold] good [bold] scriptwriter. It might have been challenging to distill a good-story line from Middelburg's very factual journalistic style, but the again, that's what adaptors get paid for.

The 'true story' was blown to pieces far beyond recognition and traded for some standard hollywood *beep*. If this movie wasn't actually named after Klaas Bruinsma I would have a difficult time guessing it was about him.

I understand this Verhage-dude has quite a nice resume, but judging from this little piece o' sh it he is a talentless hack.

[For anybody who knows who Klaas Bruinsma is, this doesn't constitute a spoiler]

Major goof: In the final scenes, Klaas is overlooking the skyline of Amsterdam's 'Zuid-As' before getting gunned down in the Hilton car park. In 1991 one though, Amsterdam's Zuid-as didn't exist! The skyscrapers that now dominate the view (abn amro HQ and mahler 5) were nothing but bits of brick in a frikkin quarry yet. Helpless amateurs.

Only goof thing: Nice ti ts on Chantal Janzen anyway too bad they threw in a body double for the pointless, borderline pornography, sex scenes.

"say they wanna save the earth...but all they do is smoke pot and smell bad."

[–] xxJUDITHxx 20 years ago

but the soundtrack of this movie, Cruel Man rocks!!!!!!!!!

[–] Angelmike_Matrix 20 years ago

dont know dind zsee the movie have the soundtack and its good

I Don't Like You

I Don't Respect You

And I'm Sure Ass Hell

I Don't Fear You!!!

[–] michiel_mig 20 years ago

(Ik denk dat Nederlands hier wel mag..)

[–] Tristan_van_doorn 19 years ago

Denk dat Nederlands hiert ook wel mag, te lui om engels te tikken :P

Deze film ging boven mijn verwachtingen uit. Nu had ik er ook neit veel van verwacht, dus dat scheelt. ik vond het wel een leuke film om te zien, en hé, 't kostte me neits (werk bij een videotheek). Ik vond de film wel veel lijken op Scarface, kleine stukjes dan.

[–] monomike 20 years ago

I really wouldn't bother too much with the factual story. Come on, just imagine the film isn't about Bruinsma, we're talking another Klaas here. Take the story as it is presented. Remember, the movie is based on Bruinsma as a person, it doesn't pretend to be a film of his life.

The major goofs with the Zuid-As and signs for new companies like Suit Supply and Ariane Inden stores included in the movies annoyed me to death, I agree. It seems they are able to close an Amsterdam street to make it look like seventies Amsterdam, but they can't make sure no references to the time it was shot are in the movie? I agree, amateurs in that field. Camera wasn't very good either, and the editing of the movie was typically Dutch too: sub-par

[–] Wesley_Geisterfer 19 years ago

Dutch film makers usually don't have a big budget to transform a whole street. But they could have a least edited the material in Premiere or something. Filmmakers always can hire someone. That's not that expensive. Just hire some students from the GLA or something (or me! I follow classes at the GLA *hint*hint* :P).

[–] Krijn79 19 years ago

For the record

It is not a body double during the sexscene from Chantal Janzen, it is her. One of my friend was a production assistent and I know Verhage personally.

The body double was used for another scene Janzen could not do..

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] Tristan_van_doorn 19 years ago

It's not hard to close down a street in NL for a movie. The police will be happy to help you with it, for free. But you do have to ask a permit, and maybe cover the cost of this. I don't know if there actually are costs bound to this, but if there are, this is the ony thing you'll have to pay for it.

[–] vdMandele 19 years ago

What options did Verhage have? If he'd stay true to the real history, there's not a man in Holland that can't predict the entire movie. I mean, come on, would you be interested in a movie that holds no suprises whatsoever? It says on the movie-box it is only *inspired* by the life of Klaas, so quit whining. You've been warned beforehand, AND you fell for the ´read-the-book-before-I-saw-the-movie´-trap.

I loved the movie, loved the soundtrack, loved the screenplay. It's the first dutch movie I like, and I compare it to all the gangster movies out there (Godfather trilogy, Goodfellas, etc.). Oh and btw, disappointment is with one s and two p´s.

[–] Blindguardian7013 18 years ago

Ik vind het niet echt tegen vallen...

Waren wel paar kleine foutjes in de film....

Chantal janzen Woot Woot ;)

[–] depris 18 years ago

As an American this is the second Dutch movie I've seen. Damn fine work. While I can understand some of the complaints regarding dodgey facts, artistic liberties must always be expected. As someone who never heard of Klaas Bruinsma I thought this movie was above par. Obviously this is not on the same level as Godfather but to call this movie crap is ridiculous. I've seen many B movie English gangster films that sucked more than a hooker on prom night.

I rate this movie a solid 7/10.

As far as the above regarding modern props in the background...thats nitpicking isn't it? I mean seriously if the story is decent just look past it. Obviously the crew didn't feel it was important enough to spend additional money on, a stance I agree with.

Also incase anyone was wondering the first Dutch movie I saw was Soldier of Orange, which I own and consider a classic.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] info-4777 17 years ago

"I mean seriously if the story is decent just look past it."

haha that sounds like something Ed Wood might have said..

[–] karel-leermans 17 years ago

Ik zag de film vanavond op Nederland 3,
eigenlijk niet zo slecht, wel een beetje traag voor een gangsterfilm.
Het einde is een beetje bij het haar getrokken. De film mist diepte en dramatiek, is eigenlijk meer een (steen)goede televisiefilm.
Voor een Nederlands publiek mag ie er best zijn.

[–] depris 17 years ago

The most important part of setting the feel of an older era is dialogue and fashion in my opinion. As long as some attempts are made to make the set look authentic with big props, careful choice of set locations, it is safe to look past a coke bottle being out of place. You haveto remember their are time tables and budgets... if finding every little tiny out of place prop means the difference between getting that perfect ending scene or having the story changed during shooting because you ran out of money I think the choice becomes pretty obvious.

[–] cpuller-642-329716 13 years ago

Only goof thing: Nice ti ts on Chantal Janzen anyway [] too bad they threw in a body double for the pointless, borderline pornography, sex scenes.

I also thought those tits look surprisingly good