Beatrix: Orange under fire (2011)

Directed by: Pim van Hoeve | 200 minutes | drama | Actors: Willeke van Ammelrooy, Eric Scheider, Thom Hoffman, Ellen Vogel, Ian Bok, Bastiaan Ragas, Katja Herbers, Peter Oosthoek, Mara van Vlijmen

The popularity of Queen Beatrix has increased in 2011. This is apparent from a survey by the current affairs program ‘Een Today’ on the occasion of the Queen’s 74th birthday, on 31 January 2012. Eighty percent of the 28,000 respondents have confidence in the Queen. The TV series ‘Beatrix: Orange under fire’ (2011) has boosted her popularity. As a result, one in six viewers has started to think more positively about Beatrix. They were especially touched by the fact that she is portrayed in the series as a normal person with her own worries and problems. Moreover, a woman who loved her husband dearly. ‘Beatrix: Orange under attack’, by the same makers as ‘Bernhard – Schavuit van Oranje’ (2010), shows who Queen Beatrix is ​​and why she does what she does. At least according to screenwriter Tomas Ross and director Pim van Hoeve, who admit to having allowed themselves some poetic liberties.

The miniseries ‘Beatrix: Orange under fire’ has four parts and shows the life of the Queen from 1960 to 2010. The starting point is the attack on the Royal family, on Queen’s Day 2009 in Apeldoorn. One of the most shocking moments in the life of Queen Beatrix, who is more aware than ever of her own mortality. The attack marks a turning point in her life, her mask of professionalism falls off and we see that she is actually only human. Her story is not told chronologically, but in retrospect, drawing clear parallels between the present and the past, between Beatrix and Willem-Alexander. In part 1, ‘The Calling’, we see how both mother and son struggle to find the right partner. Potential candidates (in this case Bob Steensma and Emily Bremers) are put under a magnifying glass, because love should not only be involved; the possible partner of a crown prince(ss) must also come from the right ‘nest’.

In the second part, ‘The Prize’, the partners are central. Claus and Máxima have a lot in common. Both were not immediately received with open arms by the population. Claus had been in the Wehrmacht in Nazi Germany (like any other boy his age) and Máxima was especially discredited because of the controversial past of her father, who was a minister during the Videla regime in Argentina. Both end up in the same boat as ‘partner of’ and have to sacrifice part of their own free life for love and steadily gained popularity among the people.

The third part of the series (‘The Wending’) focuses on the scandals that discredited the royal family. Here again the parallel between past and present, with the controversial marriage of Princess Irene and Carlos Hugo and the extramarital relations of Prince Bernhard to the worries surrounding Mabel Wisse Smit and Princess Margarita and Edwin de Roy van Zuydewijn.

Finally, part four (‘The Throne’) revolves around the changing of the guard and the way in which both Beatrix (a great admirer of her grandmother Wilhelmina) and Willem-Alexander (who had a good relationship with his grandfather, Prince Bernhard) role as head of state. We see Beatrix bravely responding to calls for curtailment of royal power. Her chair legs are sawed from all sides, but her grandmother’s wise lesson always rings out in the back of her mind: An Orange does not flee, not from her task, not from her responsibilities, even if the sacrifices are heavy.

Where Ross has basically followed the facts, he fills in the gaps with a fictitious representation of reality, in dialogues and events. For example, it is not known exactly how the first meeting between Beatrix and Claus went and what they said to each other. Ross makes use of his poetic freedom here, as he will often do, and romanticizes the events. Sometimes it is even suggestive (the apparently more than platonic relationship between Beatrix and Lubbers, for example). Because he exaggerates it here and there (Beatrix with Major Bosshardt on a trip to the Red Light District – really happened but not as we see here), ‘Beatrix: Oranje under attack’ sometimes tends to soap opera. The fragmentary nature of the first and third parts in particular also contributes to this. In parts two and four, in which certain crucial events in Beatrix’s life are discussed more extensively, they come into their own better. The miniseries is at its best in the early years of the Queen, partly thanks to the atmosphere of the sixties, seventies and eighties that is excellently portrayed and perhaps also because the later events are actually still too ‘fresh’ to be dramatized credibly. (Couldn’t Ross have been more limited to Beatrix’s early years and her relationship with Claus?).

‘Beatrix: Oranje under attack’ has a solid cast with a few highlights. Mara van Vlijmen and Ian Bok form the heart of the film as young Beatrix and Claus. The chemistry during their first encounters, the love between the two, even in difficult times; it splashed off. Willeke van Ammelrooij is the spitting image of the elder Beatrix and especially impresses in the scenes surrounding Claus’ death and in her confrontation with Willem-Alexander shortly after the attack in Apeldoorn. Bastiaan Ragas presents a thorough crown prince, who especially looks good in appearance and Katja Herbers is a bit too sweet Máxima (although a very good accent!). In smaller roles we see great gentlemen and ladies of the silver screen and the stage (Kitty Courbois as Wilhelmina, Ellen Vogel as the old Juliana, Eric Scheider and Thom Hoffman as the old and the young Bernhard respectively, Hans Hoes as the old Lubbers). , but also less well-known names such as Peter Oosthoek (old Claus) and Antoinette Jelgersma (young Juliana) do a good job.

Besides fine acting, the series also has a nice soundtrack! If you are looking for a truthful representation of reality, it is better to ignore ‘Beatrix: Orange under attack’. Fortunately, Ross and Van Hoeve are the first to admit that they have let their imaginations run wild on several occasions. It delivers a sometimes messy and unbalanced but overall very entertaining drama that does indeed make Beatrix more human. Some of her choices (for example, her family in second place) are more appropriate. The series especially excels in the sparse moments in which the accelerator pedal is pressed less firmly and events are considered. Small moments, therefore, especially between (the young) Beatrix and Claus. ‘Beatrix: Orange under fire’ may be taking a bit too much on its fork by reviewing fifty years of the royal family – with all its perils. Still, this nice looking miniseries is a must for royalists, because they will certainly enjoy it.