The book adaptation (1999)

Directed by: Eddy Terstall | 88 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Dirk Zeelenberg, Femke Lakerveld, Alette Dirkse, Nadja Hüpscher, Najib Amhali, Dieuwertje Blok, Job Gosschalk, Fedja van Huêt, Rifka Lodeizen

Eddy Terstall is the darling of the Dutch film world and that is well deserved. Terstall regularly delivers entertaining Dutch films. His last film ‘Simon’ received unanimous critical acclaim and was the Dutch entry for the Oscar (unfortunately was not nominated). Terstall’s big breakthrough was the hilarious ‘HUFTERS & Hofdames’ from 1997. With ‘De Boekverfilming’ he definitely established his name as the new Dutch director.

Terstall makes small recognizable films in which a certain subculture is viciously ridiculed. His films often have realistic dialogue and many witty jokes. ‘The Book Filming’ is no different. The subject of the film is the casting around a new film by a young up-and-coming director who is about to do his first major project. The self-critical jokes are not out of the air. Since Terstall wrote the script himself, you often get the idea that you are hearing the director’s personal thoughts. The fact that he then has those words pronounced by a Dirk Zeelenberg as an obvious charlatan and egocentrist, making the words a wrong opening sentence, makes a lot of laughter.

Dirk Zeelenberg is phenomenal as the wrong director Lars Schumann junior the second. He makes Lars an insufferable ego-tripper who puts himself at the center of the order by playing a sensitive artist, meanwhile talking near-crises into bed. It is an image that everyone secretly sometimes has of a director. An image that we would like to see and Terstall clearly too. Dirk clearly enjoys his role. It is also a memorable role in which an actor can go his own way: defiant, playful, failing seductive, haughty, arrogant, everything is included. Of course, in a movie about casting, you need some “victims.” Newcomer Aletta Dirkse and regular Femke Lakerveld (also in Terstall’s ‘HUFTERS & Hofdames’ and ‘Rent-a-Friend’ play two actresses who compete for the undefined role. The third contender, however, is the one who stands out the most. Nadja Hüpscher is great as the naive Norwegian. Her cry scene during the audition became one of the most favorite Dutch scenes to imitate at the acting academies. She is sweet, touching and hilarious at the same time. Hüpscher won the Golden Calf in 1999 for best actress for this role. The female roles are actually meant to show Terstall’s insights into the female psyche.All three women have problems with their relationship: Sofie has an open relationship with her roommate, Julia tests her Moroccan boyfriend if he is integrated enough and Noor has her ex-boyfriend as a stalker, the women in the film gradually learn that their assumptions of who they are and the relationships they use to establish their identities t hold, be incorrect. As the film progresses it becomes clear that all three of them are stuck in their own ideas and that they have to break free from that. Sophie learns that she is not the free wild girl she is: she can’t handle the open relationship and, contrary to what you think, is not willing to go to bed for the part. Julia thinks she is a liberal, but precisely by testing her Moroccan friend in every possible way, she shows the narrow-mindedness that is within her. The one who thinks he is so open is the one who closes the door to all possibilities. And then Noor, Noor is the naive who sits nervously in front of the director, has an irresistible attraction to men but is too naive to admit it. Noor learns to make herself an independent woman instead of the victim she is now. In this way Terstall adds a second layer to the film, which at first sight is just a parody of the Dutch film scene.

The film doesn’t always look neat. The camera work is sometimes a bit creaky, the sound is not optimal, some scenes are overexposed and the music is not great either, but the atmosphere is everything in this film and that is fine. The film is brightened up by all kinds of small roles of ‘Famous Dutchmen’ from the film world: The well-known (and infamous) ‘Good Times, Bad Times’ casting director Job Gosschalk plays, not entirely without merit, the casting director Bob Kop. Diewertje Blok plays Sofie’s intelligent and understanding trio date. And there are plenty of hilarious cameos from Fedja van Huêt, producer Matthijs van Heijningen, film directors Robert Jan Westdijk and Mike van Diem, actress Manouk van der Meulen and Eddy Terstall himself.

The Dutch film is not often touted as a ‘must-see’, but if you do decide to see a Dutch film, take this gem off the shelves.