The MP Case (1960)

Directed by: Bert Haanstra | 90 minutes | comedy | Actors: Albert Mol, Ko van Dijk, Ingrid Valerius, Mieke Verstraete, Julia de Gruyter, Germaine Loosveldt, Ramses Shaffy, Julien Schoenaerts, Kees Brusse, Jaak Germain, Robert Maes, Marcel Cauwenberg, Robert Marcel, Paul Storm, Bernard Droog, Theo van den Bosch, Remy Angenot, Ton Beers, Marjan Berk, François Bernard, Jan Blaaser, Jan Blok, Annelies Bouma, Jan Cammans, John Cox, Jules Croiset, Nap de la Mar, Ellen de Thouars, Huib de Vries, Lou Geels, Lex Goudsmit, Jules Hamel, Marc Janssen, Herbert Joeks, John Leddy, Pierre Myin, Herman Niels, Piet Römer, Ger Smit, John Soer, Frans ‘t Hoen, Jan van Ostade, Bob Verstraete, Guus Verstraete, Jeanne Verstraete, Roland Wagter

Bert Haanstra himself thought ‘The Case MP’ was the worst film he ever made, and this film, together with ‘A spanking’, is generally seen as the least of Haanstra’s films by the press. Still, it’s all good. ‘The MP case’ may be less streamlined and catchy than Haanstra’s feature debut ‘Fanfare’, but there is still more than enough to make you happy.

The film is structured in the same way as ‘Fanfare’, with the central story being a battle between two groups, where the group’s honor is at stake and important objects are constantly being towed back and forth. ‘Fanfare’ revolved around two separate fanfare bands, who both wanted to win a music competition. In ‘The MP case’ there is an apparent battle between Belgium and the Netherlands when in fact it is only between Camiel and his father-in-law whom he wants to impress. And in ‘Fanfare’ the corps instruments were continuously stolen from each other, while in ‘De Case MP’ national statuettes are stolen from the country of origin. Also in both films a romance plays a role between a husband and wife of the two rivals.

The advantage of ‘Fanfare’ was that all this was accompanied by the music of both bands and that the competing groups reacted directly to each other and came into contact with each other. ‘The MP case’, on the other hand, is less dynamic due to the concentration on the individual actions, which are not always equally interesting. Moreover, the joke that both statues are hidden in the same place is ushered in too early and he is quite mature.

But the film has plenty to offer nonetheless. One of the strong points of ‘Fanfare’, Albert Mol, also knows how to leave a positive mark on ‘De Case MP’. His long face and sympathetic appearance immediately generate goodwill with the viewer and he has mastered the physical comedy in the film well. A laugh cannot be suppressed when he tries to get past officers and nurses with Manneken Pis in a hospital, and tries to escape through the window and the scaffolding outside it. It results in a scene where the scaffolding with the Manneken on it moves up and down, while Camiel is already on the ground. The thing thus suddenly appears in front of the window of a baby room where a nurse notices the thing. She lets out a scream and the moment later the Manneken is of course gone. A well-known comic situation, but certainly not badly executed, both in terms of Mol’s acting and Haanstra’s editing.

It is noticeable that Haanstra is a fan of Jacques Tati’s films; Mol moves in a similarly light-footed way in the film as Tati and when Camiel crosses a busy street with a pram with the Manneken Pis in it, spinning and springing up, it is like watching a film by the great French comedy director. to look.

Finally, big names such as Ko van Dijk and especially Kees Brusse offer the viewer some entertainment with their interpretations. And it’s nice to see a very young Ramses Shaffy in his first movie role. ‘The MP case’ eventually turned out to be a fairly entertaining feature film, whatever Haanstra himself and the press at the time thought of it. No, the movie isn’t particularly hilarious, but it’s certainly not a bad comedy. If this is really the worst thing Haanstra has made, then this is good news for the rest of his oeuvre.