Letter secret (2010)

Directed by: Simone van Dusseldorp | 85 minutes | drama, adventure, family | Actors: Daan Schuurmans, Lies Visschedijk, Hanna Obbeek, Isabelle Stockel, Nils Verkooijen, Filip Peeters

Although children today (can) occupy themselves with so much more than in the past, reading books – especially among children in primary school – still remains immensely popular. A book like ‘Briefgeheim’ by Jan Terlouw still manages to appeal sufficiently to young people in the twenty-first century. Logical, because the book is mysterious, exciting and compelling. No wonder that director Simone van Dusseldorp, who has built up a reputation with successful youth films such as ‘Diep’ (2005) and ‘Kikkerdril’ (2009), wanted to make the book into a film. Of course, the story dating from 1973 had to be modernized a bit. For example, the eleven-year-old lead actress Eva (Hanna Obbeek) has her own mobile phone and she drags her apple-green iPod everywhere. Her home situation, however, has not changed: her father (Daan Schuurmans) and mother (Lies Visschedijk) argue all the time and Eva finds it less and less fun at home.

Fortunately, she has her friends Jackie (Isabelle Stokkel) and Thomas (Nils Verkooijen), with whom she often meets. One day they get into some mischief by going for a swim in the pool at an empty villa. However, the house turns out to be inhabited and not just anyone: top criminal Brandsema (Filip Peeters) is involved in dubious and dangerous practices. Eva witnesses a serious crime and finds a letter, which she takes as evidence. Then she makes her way out. Meanwhile, she hopes to teach her quarreling parents a lesson by hiding out at Jackie and Thomas’s parents’ hotel for the day. When they want to visit her in the hotel room, she appears to have disappeared without a trace. Does Brandsema have anything to do with this? And what role does Eva’s father play in this case? The young heroes set out to investigate.

The original story that Jan Terlouw once wrote has been thoroughly overhauled by screenwriters Marco van Geffen and Anna van der Heide. In outline, the film follows the original, but the interpretation of the story is much more flashy and fresh. Locations and situations have been adjusted – the film is set on and around the water – and that turns out to be advantageous. ‘Letter secret’ unfortunately has some startup problems; despite the fact that the pace is right from the start and the editing is done very efficiently (with its barely one and a half hours the film does not last a minute too long), the film does not immediately want to drag you into the story. However, once the action spectacle erupts, you’re in good hands. In the exciting scenes in the second half of the film, especially for the target group, Simone van Dusseldorp does everything possible to get the most out of it. Her youthful protagonists are at their best in those scenes. Especially Hanna Obbeek, who of course has a more complex role than her opponents, comes out surprisingly well. Her scenes with Daan Schuurmans, who is excellently cast here, are the best that ‘Briefgeheim’ has to offer.

With her excellent film adaptation of Jan Terlouw’s childhood classic ‘Briefgeheim’, Simone van Dusseldorp once again underlines her reputation as a skilled director of children’s films. Of course her film is not perfect, but ‘Briefgeheim’ is aimed at a specific target group of ten to thirteen year olds who will enjoy themselves with this exciting adventure. In any case, Van Dusseldorp shows that Terlouw’s book comes into its own a lot more than Christ Send did with his pitiful miniseries from 1983.