Berend Bone (2021)

Directed by: Mans van den Berg | 80 minutes | adventure, family | Actors: Doris Zuijderland, Justin Dos Santos, Pjotr ​​Golsteyn, Thomas Acda, Klaas van Kruistum, Carlijn van Ramshorst, Zomayra Nouwen, Celina Lima Spencer, Mattijn Hartemink, Bart Klever, Susan Radder

The children’s song ‘Berend Botje went out sailing’ may be very old, but it is still sung in preschools and kindergartens by a new generation of children. Originally there was a warning in the verse for freeloading, but that message has been weakened somewhat due to the tradition in later versions of the song. Who came up with the song and who exactly that Berend Botje was who sailed to Zuidlaren with his boat and lost his way, there are various stories about that. In addition to, among others, the shipmaker from Groningen who never saw the crew return, the Frisian fisherman who went to sea to evade Napoleon’s military service and disappeared without a trace and the farmer from Borger who was left stranded and then shipwrecked and drowned, dead drunk. there is now the film version of Berend Botje. That is not just one, by the way, but an entire skipper family in which every generation produces a new Berend Botje. The youngest offspring is the girl Berend, played convincingly and naturally by the only eleven-year-old Doris Zuijderland. The talented Zuijderland is in group 8 and takes drama lessons at the Amsterdam Youth Theater School. ‘Berend Botje’ (2021) is her first feature film and she turns out to be a true natural talent.

Berend likes nothing more than to experience adventures, if possible on the water. Her boyfriend Teus (Justin Dos Santos) has an equally vivid imagination as she does. They thoroughly enjoy the tall tales of Berend’s grandfather, who is also called Berend (Thomas Acda) and who has experienced all kinds of things in his time as a sailor and can tell you about it in scents and colors. When young Berend gives a speech at school about her grandfather’s experiences and talks about the one time he got into a fight with a giant octopus, the master (rapper Pjotr) thinks nothing of it is true. Even though Berend has a piece of tentacle in a jar as proof. During one of their imaginative adventures, Berend and Teus find a special egg. Even before they were able to take it to Grandpa to ask if he knows which bird it belongs to, the mayor (Zomayra Nouwen) has already taken it. She wants to exhibit the egg and earn a lot of money with it. Grandpa tells the kids that it’s a rare egg from a bird that was thought to be extinct. For Berend and Teus it is of the utmost importance to bring the egg back where it came from, because only there are the conditions good enough for it to hatch. With a little help from Grandpa and some inattention from Berend’s father (TV presenter Klaas van Kruistum), they manage to get the egg back and take Grandpa’s old ship out into the wide world to complete their mission.

Strangely enough, this is only the first cinema film in which ‘Berend Botje’ plays the leading role. Refreshing that a tough girl has been chosen to play the leading role, completely appropriate in this time. The film was shot in the water-rich Landal Esonstad in Friesland, but there is no indication that the events take place in a holiday park. ‘Berend Botje’ is the second feature film by NOBS Entertainment, the production house of the brothers Mans and Derk van de Berg. Their debut was the surprisingly fun ‘De Iceland Gang’ (2018), which was awarded at the Cinekid Festival and was praised for the refined way in which the personal development of the central character was intertwined in a traditional adventure film. ‘Berend Botje’ doesn’t dig as deep, but the Van de Berg brothers have got the right tone now too. Right from the start we are drawn into the adventure, even if in fact nothing spectacular happens. An important asset is the sympathetic Zuijderland, who portrays the title character wonderfully fearlessly. Some adult actors stand out sharply in her natural playing; Zomayra Nouwen and Pjotr ​​in particular do not come into their own. It is a pity that the contribution of the always excellent Susan Radder is limited to a supporting role, although she has taken on the important task of guiding the child actors during the shooting. Acda and also Mattijn Hartemink as a mysterious biologist put a lot of emphasis on their roles, but in a film like this one is allowed.

Who thinks they can’t get the old rhyme ‘Berend Botje went out sailing’ after seeing this film; no worries. The verse is not sung in the film, although individual sentences from the text do pass by. Instead, the film has its own song, sung by Acda and Zuijderland and with raps by Pjotr. It fits this modern take on Berend Botje; a smoothly told, charming and here and there even quite exciting (the egg robbery!) youth film that convinces mainly thanks to leading actress Doris Zuijderland. Where a number of her adult colleagues bend the toes, this great acting talent proudly remains.