The Glittering Armor (1998)

Directed by: Maarten Treurniet | 85 minutes | drama | Actors: Gijs Scholten van Aschat, Thom Hoffman, Victor Löw, Tamar van den Dop, Loes Wouterson, Ricky Koole, Marlies Heuer, Daniel Conçalves, Edgar Wurfbain. Thomas Venema, Damien Hope, Jaimy Siebel, Joost Poels, Jessica Mendels, Dries Smits, Fabienne Meershoek, Lidewij Benus, Sylvia Leentvaar

On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the Dutch writer Simon Vestdijk (1888-1971), three films were released in 1998, based on some of his best-known novels. The titles: ‘The seer’ (Gerrit van Elst), ‘The glittering armour’ (Maarten Treurniet) and ‘Ivory watchmen’ (Dana Nechushtan). Although all three premiered at the Netherlands Film Festival, they have only been screened on TV since then. After fourteen years, they are now finally available on DVD.

In ‘The glittering armor’, writer Sander Vastenhout (Gijs Scholten van Aschat) takes center stage. The arrival to the Netherlands of his childhood friend, the internationally acclaimed conductor Victor Slingeland (Thom Hoffman), is a reason for Sander to recall an unresolved drama from both their pasts. The suicide of a woman Victor had an affair with as an adolescent. Sander suspects in this the key to the double behavior that Victor shows towards women and that has always intrigued him. In order to make ends meet and write a novel about it, he contacts another childhood friend for the first time in years, GP Bert Duprez (Victor Löw). His aunt Stan Vastenau (Loes Wouterson) was the woman in question.

Bert does not like to talk about the past and certainly not about Victor. But Sander, who is ruthless in his search for Victor’s true nature, cunningly uses all the resources and people at his disposal. Such as Bert’s wife, who drives him mad that he keeps silent about his past and offers Sander Aunt Stan’s diaries. Or student Alice van Voort (Tamar van den Dop), who is having an affair with Bert, but is secretly in love with Victor. By handing her over to Victor, Sander not only manages to hit Bert, but also gets closer to Victor’s core. Seemingly unscrupulous, he plays everyone off against each other for the story, for his novel.

Like Dana Nechushtan (‘Ivory watchmen’), director Maarten Treurniet has chosen to bring the action of the novel (published in 1956) to the present. It certainly wasn’t necessary, but it doesn’t really distract either. More annoying is that the characters of Bert Duprez and Victor Slingeland in particular have become too caricatured. This is especially bad for Slingeland, because his inner struggle is largely absent. And that is really a loss for the emotional tension in the story. The emphasis is mainly on the mystery of Stan Vastenau’s suicide and not on the mystery of Victor Slingeland.

Stan’s story is told by herself, as appears later in the film from diary notes. A trick that is unfortunately very distracting, if only because Wouterson is not very strong in her presentation. In any case, the flashbacks with the young Victor, Bert and Sander do not compare with the rest of the film. The scenes within the story seem rather artificial and the young actors are miles behind the seasoned star players Hoffman, Löw and Scholten van Aschat. Despite a certain lack of depth, however, ‘The Glistening Armour’ has plenty to offer across the board. The denouement in particular is of a venerable cinematographic beauty, which makes up for a lot.