Penoza: The Final Chapter (2019)

Directed by: Diederik Van Rooijen | 116 minutes | crime, drama | Actors: Monic Hendrickx, Tygo Gernandt, Raymond Thiry, Sigrid ten Napel, Greg Lawson, Ryan Northcott, Charlie Chan Dagelet, Niels Gomperts, Loek Peters, Hajo Bruins, Jacqueline Blom, Duff Zayonce, Armando del Río, Mark Rietman, Peter Blok, Michele Wienecke, Mies van Rooijen, Olga Zuiderhoek, Gustav Borreman, Hubert Fermin, Stijn Taverne, Medina Schuurman, Sam van Kranenburg

It is still etched on many television viewers: Mafia mother Carmen van Walraven falls with two bullet wounds in her body over the railing of a mammoth tanker, her son Boris and her taciturn right hand Luther watch it happen from the side in amazement. Carmen irrevocably sinks to the seabed and her body is never found. You would think that the hit series ‘Penoza’ would have reached its apotheosis after five seasons, but screenwriter and director Diederik van Rooijen felt that the story was not yet complete. That is why a film had to be made to properly round off the television series, which many consider to be the best Dutch genre series ever, which can compete with the illustrious ‘The Sopranos’. A major asset is of course Monic Hendrickx in the role of Carmen van Walraven, the woman who, after the death of her husband (already in the second episode of the series!) feet turns out to be possible. However, in addition to being a shrewd, tough mafia boss, she is also a mother of three children and a real family person. She will do anything to survive with her children and oh woe if you threaten to hurt her blood! That makes her human and – despite the many liquidations that she directly or indirectly takes on her account – sympathetic and conscientious. She is constantly navigating between her ruthlessness on the one hand and her maternal feelings on the other. The perspective of a woman who survives in a world dominated by men also makes ‘Penoza’ interesting. But an end is an end, you might think.

That’s not good, because in the feature film ‘Penoza: The Final Chapter’ (2019), which takes place two years after Carmens was thrown into the water, the mafia queen remains alive and well in a remote hamlet in Canada. Only her mother Fiep (Olga Zuiderhoek) knows that she is still alive; even her children are in limbo. In all solitude she spends her days as a waitress in a sober diner, not revealing anything about her past and origin. When her colleague is harassed by an ex-boyfriend and Carmen intervenes, her sluggish life is turned upside down in one fell swoop. It comes to a shooting in the diner and people are killed. Carmen is arrested by the local police, but because she is on the international search lists, she can no longer keep her identity a secret and she is extradited to the Netherlands, where Detective Leeflang (Hajo Bruins) is already waiting for her. For the short-lived reunion with her family – children Lucien (Niels Gomperts) and his pregnant girlfriend, Natalie (Sigrid ten Napel) and her two small children and Boris (Stijn Taverne) – the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam is inexplicably rented (ridiculous of course). , but it does make for nice pictures), and with the help of the ever-reliable Luther (Raymond Thiry, who is getting his own spin-off series), Carmen immediately tries to escape. Not only does that lead to nothing, she is also immediately pointed out through her lawyer (Maarten Heijmans) that there is a Mexican drug cartel that still has a score to settle with her.

To properly follow ‘Penoza: The Final Chapter’, you don’t necessarily have to have followed the series, although that does help because it explains a few things and makes the relationships between the characters clear. But certainly the first part, in Canada, is also excellent for those who have not seen a minute of the series. In that part, Van Rooijen relies heavily on the acting skills of Hendrickx, one of the best actresses we have in our country and who can also completely draw attention to herself without too much spectacle. As soon as the story moves to the Netherlands, that spectacle is increasingly put forward in which credibility is more than once at stake. Of course, a series can stretch the ties with reality a bit, but as a viewer you still have to be able to go along with it. As soon as the Mexican mafiosi force through intimidating videos on lawyer Paul Carmen’s mobile to perform three tasks for them (‘or else…!’), things really start to turn. It seems like a scenario trick to perform some old acquaintances for the last time, someone with whom there is still a bone to pick. Some moments are quite nerve-wracking, especially two spectacularly filmed liberation scenes, but towards the end we are treated to a final reckoning of a saddened level, which makes us laugh rather than drag us into the suspense and that the film is in fact the that puts on. Only in the very last shot – not entirely surprising that Luther steals the show in this – do we see a glimmer of what this film could also have been, if the makers had not been tempted to lavish Hollywood sensations, but literally and figuratively closer to had kept home.

Those who enjoyed the series “Penoza” will undoubtedly be inclined to want to see this ‘Final Chapter’ as well. One last look over the shoulder of the queen of the polder mafia. Monic Hendrickx shines for the last time in the role that gave her national fame, but does not have to pull out all the stops here. ‘The Final Chapter’ mainly plays the trump card ‘spectacle’ and leaves Carmen’s inner conflict, which we did see in the series, for what it is. Too bad, because that’s exactly what made ‘Penoza’ stand out for five seasons.