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Wijster (2008)
History explained the real objective way
The train hijacking at Wijster, Netherlands was meant to be to put the attention of the Dutch Government to its neglect of the Molucan cause.After the takeover by Soekarno people from the Malucu Islands where moved from Indonesia to the Netherlands. They served very loyal in the Royal Dutch Indies Army, the K.N.I.L.Tremendous acting by a cast existing almost? out of highly talented"amateurs". Filmed very carefully. even the vehicles, bikes and so on are exactly from the period. No flawless moment at all. The almost absence of music adds tremendously to its dramatic credibility. This film, shown on television, should be shown in a real cinema, although I expect it is not made on 35mm analogue material. Hopefully this will be the start of revival of cinema without the tricks, the special effects, but with its simplicity, its absence of sentimentality. This is a silent, powerful movie with sound. Should be nominated. Will be nominated. No doubt at all.
Portret van Anton Adriaan Mussert (1970)
A very daring exercise
Paul Verhoeven did something most of the important post-war dutch writers (Jan Wolkers, Harry Mulisch, Maarten 't Hart, Simon Vestdijk and more) in the Netherlands did: adjusting greytones to the general opinion which was written in the memories of the people in black and white. The general opinion in those days (1968)ridiculized Mussert, the man who stood on the wrong side during the war. Mussert being a brilliant engineer, made many improvements to the dutch infrastructure (Valleikanaal, improving the water-household in the central part of the Netherlands and more). Actually, when Mussert would not have made the decision of going into politics, the Netherlands, at least in the central part, would have looked totally different. The film itself is one of oral history, one of the most important resources of truth. It shows Paul Verhoeven in one of his outstanding qualities: being an honest man looking for the truth.
Im Lauf der Zeit (1976)
Trivia
Just a guess: Wim Wenders must be a railway-enthusiast. In this film he depicts the decay of Cinema's along the Iron Curtain on the Westgerman side. The film starts with a scene at the Doemitzer Elbebruecken, the bridges at the River Elbe, which where removed after World War II on the Eastgerman side. When we had a Wim Wenders special in our art-house-cinema (ran by volunteers) I had the opportunity to identify with the main character, being the projectionist. In the beginning of the film there is a continuity mistake: The Volkswagen Beetle is submerged more in the close shot as in the total. The film ends with a shot of the Cinema called Weisse Wand (White Wall). Only the W's are lit: W(I'm) W(enders), this film is a true signature!