Sinterklaas & the golden horseshoe (2017)

Directed by: Aram van de Rest | 64 minutes | family | Actors: Wilbert Gieske, Anna-Sophie Kummer, Mike Weerts, Melody Klaver, Vincent Visser, Beryl van Praag, Anouk de Pater, Job Bovelander, Gerard Cox, Joke Bruijs, Wendy Brouwer, Jaak Van Assche, Walter De Donder, Andy Peelman, Lars Boele, Anouk Slabbers

When Sinterklaas and his Pieten have arrived in the Netherlands and are busy with the preparations for Pakjesavond, Sinterklaas receives one message after another from ten-year-old Bloem (Anne-Sophie Kummer). In her letters and emails she begs for a ride on Amerigo, Sinterklaas’s faithful horse. When she even reports at the gate of the castle, she gets her way: she can ride the horse for a ride. But then things go wrong: she takes Amerigo outside the gate for a good fit and on the way the horse loses its special golden horseshoe. This allows Amerigo to take to the rooftops, so if the horseshoe goes missing, the evening threatens to go wrong. It is the (over)known concept: there is always something about the steamboat, the packages, the horse or the Pieten that makes the whole party seem to be canceled. It is by no means original, but would a flawless preparation be interesting to watch? It is of course exciting for the children that everything will turn out all right, but the light-hearted tone and the smooth tempo drag the children completely into the story.

To make up for the loss of the horseshoe, Bloem and Sinterklaas go on an ‘undercover’ mission to recover the horseshoe. This is how Sint wants to prevent his Petes from panicking. They decide to have a new golden horseshoe made by the blacksmith Gijs, who also made the original. They not only have to find Gijs in a nursing home, but also look for a lump of gold. Fortunately, Bloem gets help from Gijs’ grandson Finn (Vincent Visser).

Meanwhile, the street musician Joey (Mike Weerts) discovers that he is suddenly very lucky, since he got a golden horseshoe on his head. He suspects that the horseshoe has magical powers. His girlfriend Tess (Melody Klaver) gets jealous and tries to take the horseshoe from him.

Since 2012, ‘De Club van Sinterklaas’ has been producing its own cinema film every year. In 2017 it was ‘Sinterklaas and the Golden Horseshoe’. The Muiderslot functions as Sinterklaas’ castle when he stays in the Netherlands, but the rest of the film was shot in South Limburg. Valkenburg and the caves there in particular have a prominent role in the film.

It is a cheerful song and dance film that will certainly appeal to the little ones. The story is logically easy to follow, but has enough variety. The playing time is short, 67 minutes, but that’s long enough to hold the attention. For adults it is amusing to see Joke Bruijs and Gerard Cox (‘Hey, what?) an elderly couple playing here and the ‘disguise’ of Sinterklaas when he visits the care home certainly makes for a big smile. The well-known Flemish actor Walter de Donder (including ‘Kabouter Plop’ and ‘Samson and Gert’) can also be seen in a supporting role.

The DVD also contains a Flemish spoken version and two extras: songs that also appear in the film.