Manslaughter (2012)

Directed by: Pieter Kuijpers | 87 minutes | thriller | Actors: Theo Maassen, Gijs Scholten van Aschat, Maryam Hassouni, Najib Amhali, Eric van Sauers, Martijn Koning, Jeffrey Hamilton

‘Be normal for once, man’, followed by a ‘No, you should act normal.’ You will hear this dialogue several times while watching the movie ‘Manslaughter’. But what is ‘normal’ nowadays? You will often ask yourself this question during this film. ‘Manslaughter’ therefore addresses a large number of social dilemmas. Questions like ‘What if we played our own judge?’ and ‘Can you defend civilization by uncivilized means?’ are just two examples of the many questions that will run through your mind during and after watching ‘Manslaughter’. The film consciously tries to raise such questions in the viewer and to send out a message about today’s society.

‘Manslaughter’ (which takes place entirely in Eindhoven) tells the story of ambulance driver Max (Theo Maassen). Max has been in the business for twenty years and would prefer to continue doing so for the rest of his life. However, the ambulance staff have not gotten any easier lately and are regularly harassed during work by bystanders (a clear hint to the current situation in the Netherlands). When Max and his colleague Amira (Maryam Hassouni) are stopped by a group of young people on their way to an emergency birth, he can no longer contain himself and beats one of the boys to death. After spending a year in prison, Max finds out after his release that he has become an example for society. He is seen as a victim and with his murder he has set an example. However, his private life is broken, the family of the ‘real’ victim wants revenge and tries to make life impossible for him.

After his previous leading role in the film ‘TBS’ (2008), Theo Maassen once again delivers an impressive performance as an actor with the film ‘Death battle’. Where he played the completely deranged character of the escaped serial killer Johan in ‘TBS’, in ‘Murder Stroke’ he is, as said, Max, a seemingly innocent ambulance driver. And just like in ‘TBS’, he also manages to portray the character of the main character in a convincing way in ‘Death Battle’. Max is an average citizen, who reluctantly becomes a celebrity due to the tragic incident at the beginning of the film. You can clearly see him struggling with his fame, he is not a hero and he radiates that through his hollow look and continuously drooping shoulders. You see him change very much. While he is a good giant in the beginning of the film, he becomes more and more somber and frustrated throughout the film.

In addition to the aforementioned Maryam Hassouni, Gijs Scholten van Aschat plays the role of Felix, a comedian who tries to take advantage of Max’s situation by involving him in his shows. In addition, there are small bit parts for Najib Amhali as the victim’s father and Eric van Sauers as a taxi driver. It is especially Eric van Sauers who, despite his limited role, manages to stand out. The few scenes in which he, as a foreign taxi driver, burns down the foreigners will certainly bring a smile to your face.

The story itself does have a few minor flaws. For example, the love that Max develops for Amira is not very well developed. It is clear that he likes her, but it is not clear how crazy he is about her. Because the film builds on this later in the story, it would have been better to pay more attention to this; this would have made some of the later scenes a bit more logical. But this is just a cosmetic flaw. Manslaughter is much more than a simple story about love; the film addresses a number of social themes and makes the viewer think. Because who should actually act normally? Is it okay to fight violence with violence? Doesn’t this make you just as guilty? The film shows both the pain of the perpetrator and the suffering of the victim. With ‘Death Battle’, director Pieter Kuijpers and actor Theo Maassen deliver their second joint successful film after ‘TBS’. Let’s hope this collaboration will produce even more titles of this level in the future.