Minos (2001)

Directed by: Vincent Bal | 96 minutes | family | Actors: Carice van Houten, Theo Maassen, Sarah Bannier, Hans Kesting, Olga Zuiderhoek, Pierre Bokma, Jack Wouterse, Loes Luca, Annet Malherbe, Wim T. Schippers, Paul Haenen, Hans Teeuwen, Katja Schuurman

After filming ‘Abeltje’ and the series ‘Otje’, producer Burny Bos has again overhauled a classic children’s book by Annie MG Schmidt. Together with daughter and screenwriter Tamara Bos and the young Flemish director Vincent Bal, Bos decided to stay as close as possible to the original story. Only the shapeshifting of Minoes has been adjusted in the film. Here Minoes changes from kitty to lady in a green suit after tasting chemical waste from a vat of the local deodorant factory, while this is described rather vaguely in the book. By the way, ‘Minoes’ is a CV film, which means that the government has made it attractive for investors to invest in the film through a special tax measure.

Carice van Houten is perfectly cast for the role of a lady with catty habits. The way she moves and speaks, her facial expressions, everything seems to be well thought out and prepared. Theo Maassen is especially endearing as the shy journalist Tibbe. Sarah Bannier plays Tibbe’s young and helpful girl next door and Pierre Bokma is nice and mean as Killendoorn’s villain. The film used professional cats who also appear in commercials. Bos says that in the beginning it was difficult to get the cats used to the film crew. Conversely, lead actress Carice van Houten turned out to be allergic to cats on set! These Killendoorn cats from the cat press service all had to be able to pass on news and that was realized with special effects under a limited budget. In addition to moving the beak up and down, something of human expression had to be added. The rooftop scenes and the talking cats are comical.

In terms of credibility and authenticity, ‘Minoes’ has become a success, partly due to the fantastic cast. For some, watching ‘Minoes’ is a joy, purely because of its youth sentiment and cat love. But anyway ‘Minoes’ is a very sweet and fun film that has a lot to offer everyone and of course especially children.