Storm: Letters of Fire (2017)

Directed by: Dennis Bots | 105 minutes | adventure, family, history | Actors: Davy Gomez, Juna de Leeuw, Yorick van Wageningen, Peter van den Begin, Angela Schijf, Maarten Heijmans, Laura Verlinden, Egbert Jan Weeber, Loek Peters, Luc Feit, Sem van Butselaar, Fred Goessens, Gabriel Boisant, Rivka de Leon , Tibo Vandenborre, Tom Jansen, Golde de Leon, Nils Verkooijen

Twelve-year-old Storm Voeten (Davy Gomez) would like to become busier, the profession of his father Klaas (Yorick van Wageningen). He occasionally helps out, but he doesn’t really feel that his father takes him for granted yet. The Dutch adventure film ‘Storm: Letters of Fire’ is set in Antwerp in the sixteenth century. At this time, the printing press was still in its infancy, and the spreading of opinions in areas such as religion – which was made much easier by this new invention – was regularly punished. Sometimes people who expressed a certain opinion, or helped to achieve it, even had to pay for it with death.

When Storm’s father Klaas is asked to print an important letter from Martin Luther, he runs a great risk. A new inquisitor (Peter van de Begin) has just been appointed in the city, who is cracking down on any form of heresy. But the Voeten family can use the money and Klaas actually supports the radical ideas of the German theologian. However, Storm’s mother Cecilia (Angela Schijf) is a devout Catholic and should know nothing of that blasphemy. Storm’s curiosity wins out and he gradually learns more about Martin Luther and his ideas. But before he can have a proper conversation with his father, Klaas is arrested, red-handed, while he is printing the incriminating letter. Storm just manages to hide the type (with which the letter can be printed) but because the soldiers have seen him flee, the manhunt for the poor teenage boy is also opened.

After ‘Code M’ and ‘Secrets of War’, ‘Storm: Letters of Fire’ is Dennis Bots’ third film in which he situates an exciting childhood adventure in an interesting period in history. His characters are always engaging and the stories are told with speed and flair. That is no different in ‘Storm – Letters van Vuur’, again based on a scenario by Karen van Holst Pellekaan. The adventure of Storm is well written, reasonably believable acted and due to a number of ‘near misses’ the young audience will regularly be on the edge of their seat. A lot depends on the success of Storm’s mission.

The pace of this Dutch family film is fast, but not too much, you get to know the characters well and the blossoming friendship between Storm and Marieke, a girl who helps him (and later vice versa), is cute. The sets are convincing, you temporarily imagine yourself in a 16th century town, although a single fragment is too much ‘green screen’, but that is not so disturbing. The scenes in the ruins of Antwerp are definitely mood-enhancing, you can almost smell the sewer, brrr! Because the story is set in the late Middle Ages, it is also educational, but not in an annoying way. Terms such as ‘indulgence’ and ‘heresy’ will acquire meaning for the target group through this film. Nice youth film: hopefully Bots and Van Holst Pellekaan will join forces more often.