Kicks (2007)

Directed by: Albert ter Heerdt | 110 minutes | drama, comedy, crime | Actors: Mimoun Oaissa, Maryam Hassouni, Marcel Musters, Hadewych Minis, Mimoun Ouled Radi, Roeland Fernhout, Mohammed Chaara, Eva Duijvestein, Iliass Ojja, Jack Wouterse, Chantal Janzen, Ilias Addab

The comparison with the American Oscar winner of 2006 ‘Crash’ is easily made. Today’s multicultural society, with all its problems, is depicted through different storylines; different people who are related in one way or another. The bored white woman is present, as is the allegedly racist police officer. Various ingredients of ‘Crash’ thus seem to have been adopted in this way. Yet ‘Kicks’ is very different, more Dutch; lighter too. It is more of a cross between ‘Crash’, ‘Shouf Shouf Habibi’ and the SIRE advertisement about the short fuse we have in contemporary Netherlands.

A film about the contemporary, multicultural Netherlands (or rather Amsterdam, because we haven’t gotten further than the capital yet). Who else but the entire cast of ‘Shouf Shouf Habibi’ can play in this? Although it now seems as if these are our only ‘immigrant’ actors and actresses, this group remains a feast for the eyes to watch. Each and every one of them succeeds in creating a believable character. Mohammed Chaara doesn’t play the pretty boy, the charmer for once and keeps his head above water in this more serious role. Mimoun Oaissa is also doing very well, as is Maryam Hassouni. Mimoun Ouled Radi does not deviate much from his well-known character in ‘Shouf Shouf’, but is simply very sympathetic as a short-sighted prankster with a heart of gold. In ‘Kicks’ the brilliant invention has been added to have Ouled Radi interpret the Amsterdam life song with full dedication. Also the original storyline of the two film makers Wout and Vic, with whom the plan to make a committed film about two asylum seekers ends up in the soup, is very entertaining. These kinds of details make the film sympathetic and original on the one hand, but also lighter, sometimes even a bit improbable.

However, during the opening credits, we are told that all of the events in this film are based on true events. The extent to which things really happened that way is of course not the most important; it’s about the kind of things that (can) happen in the Netherlands today. Ter Heerdt wanted to continue in the genre of multicultural comedy, but ultimately decided to opt for a drama. Although with a comic note here and there (especially from Mimoun Ouled Radi), the main focus is on the social and serious side of the film. The ‘native’ representation is also well cast, in contrast to Ter Heerdt’s earlier film. Where, for example, Bridget Maasland and Tanja Jess missed the mark, Hadewych Minis is very convincing as naive, but well-intentioned Dutch Kim, who now and then ‘wants to meet a real immigrant’. Eva Duijvestein also plays a beautiful role of a young woman who can no longer find her happiness in her home situation or in her work in a shelter. In this way every actor or actress really adds something to the story. Only Chantal Janzen does not say a word throughout the film: perhaps a conscious choice.

It’s not very subtle, but things seem to be right; there has clearly been an eye for detail. The annoying figures from Dutch society have also been given a place, with the two gentlemen of the National Criminal Investigation Service as a shocking example. There are certainly lesser aspects in ‘Kicks’, or elements that we have seen many times before, but this film is certainly a step in the right direction, in which we may dare to take ourselves a little more seriously in the field of film and be a bit more perspective in social life. And the title? That too is typically Dutch: an English name for a typically Dutch product…