The Heineken kidnapping (2011)

Directed by: Maarten Treurniet | 120 minutes | drama, thriller, crime | Actors: Rutger Hauer, Reinout Scholten van Aschat, Gijs Naber, Teun Kuilboer, Korneel Evers

No one will have noticed that the 1983 kidnapping of Alfred Heineken was made into a movie. Even before the print hits the screens, the necessary controversy arose. Top criminal Willem Holleeder, one of the kidnappers at the time, wanted to prevent Maarten Treurniet’s ‘De Heineken kidnapping’ (2011) from being shown in cinemas, because he believes that the film damages his image. His lawyers filed a lawsuit, but lost it. The character ‘Willem Holleeder’ does not appear in the film, while three other kidnappers are simply mentioned by name. However, the central character Rem Hubrechts is clearly based on Holleeder. He is an amalgamation of the Netherlands’ most famous criminal and the fifth man involved in the kidnapping, Martin Erkamps. Actor Reinout Scholten van Aschat also resembles Holleeder like two drops of water, so it is strange that Treurniet and screenwriter Kees van Beijnum did not simply use his name. Peter R. de Vries, who wrote the bestseller ‘The kidnapping of Alfred Heineken’ at the end of the eighties and was initially involved in the film project, also got involved in the controversy surrounding the film. ‘The Heineken kidnapping’ therefore received universal attention.

Then the story, which everyone actually knows. In real life there were five, but in the film they are four young Amsterdammers who are scurrying around in the criminal circuit. Cor van Hout (Gijs Naber) is the leader of the bunch, Frans Meijer (Teun Kuilboer) the most rambunctious of the four and the compliant Jan Boellaard (Korneel Evers) is a bit of a hangover. Cor’s young brother-in-law Rem (Reinout Scholten van Aschat) wants to prove himself and comes up with a master plan to earn a lot of money quickly and spectacularly: kidnap a millionaire and then demand a ransom. His eye falls on Alfred Heineken (Rutger Hauer), with whom he also has a bone to pick. His father (Ton Kas) once worked at Heineken and is said to have become addicted to alcohol through his work. After thoroughly studying his victim, the foursome strike on November 9. They kidnap Heineken and his driver Ab Doderer (Menno van Beekum) and demand 35 million guilders in ransom. Heineken is held in an old warehouse for three weeks. Heineken and his driver are eventually freed, but Cor and Rem manage to escape, after which they run away.

The kidnapping of Heineken no longer holds any secrets for many Dutch people. That takes away almost all the tension from this film adaptation. It is that Treurniet and Van Beijnum have dressed up reality with fictional elements, that not the entire film is predictable. Moreover, the emphasis is placed on the psychological warfare between Heineken and the young and ruthless Rem, which attempts to provide the story with a deeper layer. Unfortunately, the three other kidnappers remain very obscure – we never really get to know them – while Rem remains an elusive and distant figure. Our sympathy clearly lies with Heineken, who is initially also a hard and cold type, but is regaining his humanity through the kidnapping. Hauer doesn’t even have to work hard to portray a credible Heineken and in fact only pulls out all the stops in the scenes in the cell (and especially in the confrontations with Rem).

With Scholten van Aschat, Naber and Kuilboer (Evers is hardly mentioned), Treurniet has brought in three great young talents, whose possibilities are actually not fully utilized here. These guys have more to offer than they can show here. Only Scholten van Aschat gets the space to show off his talent every now and then, although the scene in which he plays Tony Montana from ‘Scarface’ (1983) seems a bit forced. Yet the acting is what keeps ‘The Heineken kidnapping’ going. Hauer and Scholten van Aschat make this film worthwhile. Desperately attempting to film the Netherlands’ most famous kidnapping case does not deliver the expected spectacle and lacks depth, but is nevertheless entertaining thanks to its captivating protagonists. After such an intensive publicity campaign, director Treurniet does not have to fear empty halls.