Holiday in our own country (2011)

Directed by: Hanro Smitsman | 76 minutes | family | Actors: Frederik Brom, Hayo Bruins, Max van Burg, Lottie Hellingman, Gianni Janzen, Albert Lagrin, Julia Marinissen, Elle van Rijn, Miguel Stordiau, Victor Swank, Juan Carlos Tajes, Zana Weiss, Amalia Yuno

We may know director Hanro Smitsman from ‘Skin’, ‘De Punt’ and ‘The Last Journey of Meneer van Leeuwen’. ‘Holiday in our own country’ is the fourth in the list of Telefilms that Smitsman realized in a short time. A large number of famous faces were summoned for this telefilm. We see pleasant acting by Max van den Burg, Lottie Hellingman and Hayo Bruins.

But what seems to start as a serious telefilm about ‘the credit crisis’ quickly turns into a light-hearted family production that will apparently be especially worthwhile for children. Apparently, because from which point of view the film should really be viewed remains unclear. ‘Vacation in our own country’ contains comic dialogues, but also has scenes that are a bit bland. The light-hearted handling of themes such as adultery and bankruptcy kills real drama, but cannot immediately be characterized as strongly humorous. While the basic information seems promising, the elaboration remains somewhat between the different genres. ‘Holiday in our own country’ can therefore come across as somewhat seedless and unspoken.

With ‘Holiday in our own country’, screenwriter Rob Bloemkolk reminds the viewer once again of the things that are perhaps really important in life. And the fact that we may differ less from each other than we sometimes lead ourselves to believe. So a moral? Of course. By caricaturing the degenerate lives of the two main characters, a ready-made black-and-white scenario is quickly presented in which themes such as cultural difference and social interaction are conveyed in a very manageable way.

The ‘hero roles’ in this telefilm are reserved for daughter Saskia (Amalia Yuno) who, together with her boyfriends and girlfriends, have to save the adults from madness. And that reinforces the idea that ‘Holiday in our own country’ will appeal to a young target group precisely from this childish perspective.