The Curtain Palace by Ollie Hartmoed (2011)

Directed by: Norbert ter Hall | 200 minutes | drama, family, comedy | Actors: Teun Stokkel, Susan Visser, Gijs de Lange, Aart Staartjes, Isabelle Stokkel, Bracha van Doesburgh, Rick Paul van Mulligen, Hossein Mardani, Amin Belyandouz, Myron Wouts, Dana Goldberg, Trudy de Jong, Jakob Beks, Sebastiaan Labrie, Louis Talpe, Kitty Courbois, Leontine Borsato, Dean Overkemp, Jan Overkemp, Barry Atsma

In the dark month of December 2011, the Dutch and Flemish public were able to meet Ollie Hartmoed and his completely crazy family for the first time. In four episodes of fifty minutes each, a moving picture was sketched of this positive-minded boy and his urge to make the world a little more beautiful. For those who missed this special series by writer Robert Alberdingk Thijm and director Norbert ter Hall (“A’dam – EVA”, “Waltz”) on TV or who would like to enjoy the silly complications surrounding the Hartmoed family again, luckily there is now the DVD.

Ollie (Teun Stockel) is nine years old. To call his family complicated is quite an understatement. His father Oscar (Gijs de Lange) has just remarried and has adopted three Chinese girls together with his third wife. Thanks to Oscar’s first marriage, Ollie has a half-sister, Tina (Bracha van Doesburgh) and a half-brother Julius (Rick Paul van Mulligen). The latter prefers to go through life as Julia, but is otherwise happy with his friend Greg (Louis Talpe). Tina is married to the Moroccan Iliad (Hossein Mardani). Their son Momo (Amin Belyandouz) is Ollie’s age, but formally Ollie is of course his uncle. That’s why Momo always calls him Uncle Ollie. Ollie’s real sister’s name is Lola (Isabelle Stockel). Lola is rather annoyed that their mother Lillian (Susan Visser) has fallen in love with – and is expecting – the alcoholic Ralf (Sebastiaan Labrie). Ralf also has three sons from a previous marriage, the ADHD twins Wilco and Remco (Dean and Jan Overkemp) and the bored, aggressive teenager Tobias (Myron Wouts). The seven of them are going to live in a much too small apartment. On the day of the move, Lillian’s mother, Gusta (Trudy de Jong), leaves Ollie’s grandfather Luc (Jakob Beks), just before his retirement. She has developed a relationship with her much younger gym teacher (Barry Atsma in a hilarious role). And Grandpa (Aart Staartjes with extraordinary eyebrows), Ollie’s best friend in the family? He is almost a hundred and his dearest wish is to get the whole Hartmoed family together again. But that will be difficult, because everyone is arguing with each other… Nevertheless, Ollie promises that he will sort it out. And that white Christmas that Grandpa wants, that will be all right.

Meanwhile, Ollie tells us all kinds of interesting facts about curtains. Ollie loves curtains and applies them to the things in his life. Not surprising when you consider that his family owns the famous Curtain Palace Hartmoed. Everyone knows that! But does the Curtain Palace belong to Ollie’s family? When Ollie encounters his “other half” at school, Germaine Tulp (Dana Goldberg), he does everything he can to impress her. Germaine comes from a perfect, intensely happy family. But of course nothing is as it seems… Then Ollie also has to undergo heart surgery, because contrary to popular belief, he doesn’t have asthma, but a hole in his heart. The misunderstandings pile up and there seems to be more and more arguments. Ollie almost gives up…

‘The curtain palace of Ollie Hartmoed’ is a particularly well-maintained family series. A great deal of attention has been paid to the design and decoration. Due to the mix of styles, clothing and haircuts from the seventies and eighties and the sublime music that seems to come from a period before that, it is difficult to estimate exactly when ‘Ollie Hartmoed’ takes place. In fact, this has given the series the same timelessness as David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks’. The diverse cast puts their best foot forward and some of the actors are simply unrecognizable in their roles. Work has been done with visible pleasure on the series and it pays off. The screenplay deals with serious problems in an adult way, but despite the sometimes heavy costs (divorce, alcohol abuse, cheating, discrimination, transsexuality) ‘The curtain palace of Ollie Hartmoed’ is certainly suitable viewing material for children from the age of seven and their parents. But you know, secretly, no child has to watch it at all, because ‘Ollie Hartmoed’ is just fun for everyone.

‘The Curtain Palace of Ollie Hartmoed’ will be released on DVD on Thursday 2 February 2012.