Simon (2004)

Directed by: Eddy Terstall | 102 minutes | comedy, drama | Actors: Cees Geel, Marcel Hensema, Rifka Lodeizen, Nadja Hüpscher, Eva Duijvestein, Daan Ekkel, Dirk Zeelenberg, Stijn Koomen, Johnny de Mol, Maria Kooistra, Femke Lakerveld, Natasja Loturco, Araba Walton, Medi Broekman, Dennis Rudge, Helena Remeijers , Esmarel Gasman, Wilhelmija Lamp, Klavertje Patijn, Ron Schuitemaker, Jenayden Adriaan, Lisa Kuil, Jeroen Willems, Laura Dozzelne, Aaron Wan, Howard van Dodemont, Henk Kreekel, Nico Huisman, Emmanuel K. Obinna, Troy Patterson, Matt Kosokoff, Pee Chantranangsan

On January 15, 2002, program maker Willem Ekkel died of a brain tumor. He was only 36 years old. In the eighties he broke through with his twin brother Daan with the TV program ‘Jonge Helden’, later he made programs for the VARA, Veronica and SBS. The Ekkel brothers became friends with the Amsterdam filmmaker Eddy Terstall and Daan in particular regularly played roles in his films. When Willem became ill, Terstall was already working on a film about a young person who dies. That idea was largely fueled after the death of a close friend. She had euthanasia performed and Terstall thought it was a nice fact – one of the freedoms of Dutch society – to incorporate it into a film: he finds the choice to determine how you want to die more respectful and more humane than unnecessary suffering and then literally languish in a nursing home. And then his good friend Willem Ekkel became ill too. The film Terstall was working on thus became much more personal than previously thought. Because ‘Simon’ (2004) thus became a tribute to not one but two good friends who fought bravely against a disease they could not win. The filmmaker hangs that tribute on a character who bears little resemblance to the friends he now has to miss; they had only their humor and their courage in common with Simon. Willem’s twin brother Daan pays his own salute to his brother by taking on the role of Simon’s best friend Marco in the film. A taciturn figure, who understands Simon without them having to say a word.

The viewer gets to know Simon (Cees Geel) through the eyes of the shy Camiel (Marcel Hensema). Simon is his opposite in everything: where Camiel does everything according to the rules, completes a study and lives a civil life with his future husband Bram (Dirk Zeelenberg), Simon always pushes the boundaries and then crosses them without hesitation. In the late 1980s, when the two first meet, Simon runs a hashish empire, a coffee shop and a beach club and plays the maladjusted primal macho. Camiel is a rich man’s son who came to Amsterdam to study dentistry and has not been out for very long. There’s no indication that these two men will become good friends, but it happens anyway. Simon’s way of life really appeals to Camiel, just like his humor and ability to put things into perspective. He accepts that he gets the wrong, homophobic remark thrown at his head every so often. Camiel soon belongs to Simon’s closest group of friends and is allowed to accompany him on a trip to Thailand. When he gets drunk with Simon’s girlfriend Sharon (Rifka Lodeizen), the friendship cools and the two lose sight of each other. Until fourteen years later, when Camiel is knocked off his socks by Simon, just like at their very first meeting. Simon, straightforward as he is, turns out to be seriously ill. Although he is slowly but surely starting to deteriorate, he has not yet lost his humor and ability to put things into perspective. The friendship blossoms again, Camiel develops a good relationship with Simon’s children Joy (Nadja Hüpscher) and Nelson (Stijn Komen) and experiences the disease process from up close. And while Camiel is looking forward to his upcoming wedding to Bram, Simon is working towards his euthanasia.

‘Simon’ was the big winner at the Dutch Film Festival in 2004. The film won four awards: for lead actor Cees Geel (best actor), Eddy Terstall (best director), best film and the audience award. At the time, the film made a big impression on the public: in many cinemas an impressive silence could be heard after the last, penetrating scene. The strength of ‘Simon’ lies in the balance between Amsterdam humor and the heavy topics that are raised: illness, death, euthanasia, having to say goodbye to a loved one. Terstall has indulged in one-liners and puns, which at first sight are often blunt or flat, but due to their directness – and placed in the context of Simon’s illness – they hit extra hard. The character Simon is a typical case of ‘big mouth, small heart’, who could open many people’s eyes with his ability to put things into perspective. Cees Geel is perfect for the role and convinces from the first to the last minute. This also applies to Marcel Hensema; your heart breaks when he is crying with his friend Bram, while just before that he was trying to keep up because Simon does that too. In the supporting roles we see Rifka Lodeizen (always good), Nadja Hüpscher (not cast correctly as a nineteen-year-old girl), Dirk Zeelenberg, Eva Duijvestein as one-eyed barmaid, Johnny de Mol as Joy’s bland boyfriend and the late Jeroen Willems as a doctor. The cliché that there is a lot of unnecessary nudity in Dutch film is confirmed here once again.

‘Simon’ is now more than a decade old and has stood the test of time quite well. But the impact the film made in 2004 has been weakened somewhat. That does not alter the fact that it is clever how Eddy Terstall has managed to cast heavy themes such as euthanasia in an accessible and light-hearted form. The character Simon is a bit over the top, but remains recognizable so that the viewer easily sympathizes with him. ‘Simon’ is typically such a film with a smile and a tear, which may have lost some of its impact, but it still proves to have its heart in the right place.