Oh, granny! Tom Fassaert's Dutch doc about his problemed relatives, A FAMILY AFFAIR

So much is made these days about the often "tenuous" link between truth and whatever new documentary is currently under the critical microscope -- see Nuts, Cameraperson and Kate Plays Christine for three prime examples: two excellent, the other not so -- that when an old-fashioned, point-your-camera-and-try-to-get-the-whole-story appears, it almost seems fresh and unique. Such is the case with A FAMILY AFFAIR, in which Dutch filmmaker Tom Fassaert attempts to get his paternal grandmother, Marianne, who now lives in South Africa and has reached the ripe old age of 95, to come clean about the past.

Mr. Fassaert, shown at right, dispenses with anything "meta" or even much that is discursive. And don't look for clever animation to help fill the time and increase your enjoyment. The filmmaker explains at the opening what he is after and why, and then he simply goes for it. But since what he is going for is the deep secret that appears to be hiding within that grandmother, you can expect to enter a certain very dark region known as "family." When Mr. Fassaert's father was just a young boy, his mother, Marianne, placed him and his brother in a children's home, occasionally visiting them but in reality more-or-less abandoning her two children.

Both grew up highly problemed. Tom's father (shown above with his mother in later years) worked around those problems as best he could, providing a home and a help to his son, Tom. Tom's uncle, dad's brother René, was not so lucky and remains, to this day somewhat mentally at sea. Down the years, the relationship between Tom's dad and Tom's grandmother has remained rocky -- very off and on, stop and start.

So when Tom receives a request from his grandmother to come and visit her in South Africa, he jumps at the chance, turning on his camera almost immediately. Family albums -- in both Holland and South Africa -- are unearthed and combed through (granny was a fashion model back in the day) and the camera stays on grandmother as much as possible with occasional forays into dad and René and a few even farther outliers.

It does not take long, however, before Tom (and we viewers) realize that his granny (below, in her glamor curlers) is not going to be forthcoming on her own. She won't be forced to reveal the past, and so she'll have to somehow be cajoled. "The truth is subjective," she tells us early on. "You'll never find what you're looking for, even if you try." A near-complete narcissist who lives only to look good, granny is a piece of work you won't easily forget.

The more we learn about her and the history of Tom's family, the more awful the woman appears to be. There's a will (and the changing of inheritors), and an autobiography to be written (with a change in the ghost writer along the way). Grandma would rather flirt with her grandson than give up those secrets easily, and so the film, too, takes its sweet time. Yet it is never boring because we keep learning new bits and pieces, while seeing grandmother and her two sons more fully.

Finally, you might even find yourself with a kind feeling or two for granny (though these hardly outweigh the damage this thoughtless, selfish woman has done). The press release for the film promises a big "reveal," which turns out to be, in our current times, something relatively minor.

By the film's end, though, we've been shocked and moved and made to once again understand how difficult it is to get to the bottom of things. And yet Mr. Fassaert has managed to do his job in a way that seems about as honest and truthful as possible. He probes, gently and then more forcefully, but backs off when he must. Personal and painful, the movie goes about as far as it can.

The secret at the center of it all -- how could you do this to your children, and why? -- is never fully answered. The mystery of "family" remains just that. But once again, as with all good documentaries on this subject, the door has been opened a crack wider and we've seen something special and different, enticing and disturbing, that we can now add to that memory book of oddball families we have known.  Some of us might also realize that our own family could easily be included, too, even as we feel gratitude that ours is not nearly as oddball as what we've seen here. (That's Tom, above, in his somewhat younger days.)

A Family Affair -- supposedly released via Abramorama (but good luck trying to find the film on its web site), spoken in Dutch and English with English subtitles -- opens tomorrow, Friday. September 16, in Los Angeles (at Laemmle's Music Hall) and New York City (at the Cinema Village). Elsewhere? Don't know, but one hopes to see this doc make its DVD and/or digital debut soon.

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"family" films, A FAMILY AFFAIR, bad grandmothers, documentaries, Dutch film, Family histories, secrets and lies, Tom Fassaert,

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Pieter van Huystee's art documentary opens--HIERONYMUS BOSCH: TOUCHED BY THE DEVIL

In art appreciation classes throughout much of the world, and for decades now, I would guess -- this was certainly true in my day, anyway -- it was always the work of Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch that woke up many of us sleepyheads, who might have nodded off during the lectures on Giotto, Titian, Goya and, hell, even Rembrandt. But Bosch? Never. That work was just too bizarre -- something like the most imaginative X-rated sci-fi fantasy wonderland of pain and evil you could imagine back then. (Even now, too.) With all the current special CGI effects at their beck and call, I am not sure that today's filmmakers have ever quite outdone old Hieronymus -- the death of whom some 500 years ago we celebrate in 2016.

Which brings us to the new documentary by Pieter van Huystee (shown at right; this is his first time as director, after some 80 producing credits), which is all about that art, the artist, and some of the men and women art experts, archivists and curators who explore, treasure and guard that work today. HIERONYMUS BOSCH: TOUCHED BY THE DEVIL is an informative, occasionally surprising and sometimes slow-moving (sleepyheads who watch it may undergo anew their art-history class experience) look at Bosch's art and the question of its attribution. (There evidently were lots of artists in the Bosch family.)

As we learn via explanatory titles at the film's beginning, only 25 paintings by Hieronymus are known to still exist, and his home town of Den Bosch is celebrating the anniversary with a major exhibition at its Noordbrabants Museum-- except that the city and museum actually possess none of his art. This means running around the world to beg and borrow various works from places such as The Prado in Spain; in Venice, Italy; and larger museums in The Netherlands.

Also on the visitation list is a relatively unknown museum here in the USA, which wonders, via some surprise communication, if it might possess a so-far unheralded work by Bosch. As the documentary unfolds, we meet and spend some time with a few of the art experts who, thanks to the latest technology (they can tell whether a painting was executed by a right-handed or left-handed artist), make pretty good judgment calls as to the authenticity of various pieces of art. The results of of their "calls" will surprise you (as it no doubt did some of the museums who house these would-be Bosches).

The experts are identified by name in the doc, though we don't get to learn very much about them. We are also made privy to some of their conversation -- too much of it, actually -- which is part of what slows the movie down. But we also pick up some interesting info about the artist and the work itself: Bosch's use of owls (thought in that day to be the devil's birds) and how his experience as a child during one of his city's major fire's was expressed so often in his paintings.

There's a little suspense along the way regarding The Prado and the possibility of a "loan" (Italy proves more helpful than Spain in that area), and of course all that authentification business. TrustMovies also learned more than he'd known previously about a certain Bosch triptych and an unfortunate woman who became "The Bearded Saint."

Also, and once again, we're confronted with that nagging question of why hell, along with its enticements and discontents, is so much more interesting and fun than heaven. Bosch painted them both, but he lavished infinitely much more time and detail on the former, while the latter looks mostly -- as usual -- generic.  Somewhat slow and sleepy overall, the documentary is redeemed by its close-up look at the paintings, as well as by what we learn about how these experts accomplish what they do.

From Kino Lorber and running 87 minutes, Hieronymus Bosch: Touched by the Devil, after screening last week at DC's National Gallery of Art, has its U.S. theatrical premiere this Wednesday, July 27, in New York City at Film Forum for a two-week run, then hits Los Angeles at Laemmle's Royal on August 5, with appearances scheduled for ten other cities in the weeks to come. Click here (then click on PLAYDATES) to view all currently scheduled cities and theaters. 

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art documentaries, Dutch film, Hieronymus Bosch, HIERONYMUS BOSCH: TOUCHED BY THE DEVIL, Pieter van Huystee,

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Sunday Corner with Lee Liberman tackles ADMIRAL -- and the epic Dutch naval warrior Michiel de Ruyter

"Our enemies think 

we are too rich and too free" 

Naval hero Michiel de Ruyter (1607-1676) is the subject of an unusually big film (for the comparatively small Dutch film industry), ADMIRAL, now streaming on Netflix. Made in 2015 by Roel Reiné, L.A.-based Dutch director (Death Race 2, The Condemned 2), it was second only in cost to Paul Verhoeven's Black Book, although modern CGI helped make it more epic. The largeness is not misplaced, as de Ruyter was, according to one writer, "one of the most amazing seaborne murder machines to ever pound his enemies to death," with seven wars, 40 engagements, and 15 massive full-scale battles under his belt in 55-plus years at sea. He waged and won so much that he became as mythic as Braveheart's hero. He went to sea as a child and grew up into a combat genius. He died in battle at 69, cut down by an enemy cannon ball after having been sent on a suicide mission by political enemies -- or so this film tells us. (On the poster above, shown left to right, are William III, de Ruyter and his wife Anna; below, a portrait of de Ruyter.)

A Dutch maritime and political historian, Gijs Rommeise, denounced the many inventions used to bring de Ruyter's story to life but he does conclude "that the viewer is treated to spectacular battle scenes...and a lavish view of the social, economic and religious life of the Dutch Golden Age." Much of the specialness of Admiral is the wide-angle look at the world of little Netherlands out of sight on the North Sea and out of mind of our own Anglo-American history. Since the film hurls you into an ocean filled with great sea warships and cannon fire debris without much historical context, here is some.

While America was covered in forest and populated by Indians, the Netherlands were appended to Spain by Catholic King Phillip ll until the Protestants of the lowlands revolted in 1572; seven Southern provinces declared themselves independent in 1581 under the leadership of William l, Prince of Orange. The period encompassed by the film (mid-to-late 1600's) was during the Dutch Golden Age. The Netherlands was the only republic in the world and possessed an empire that included New Amsterdam in America (Governor Peter Stuyvesant surrendered it to a British naval blockade in 1664 and the city became New York). Holland was the richest and most urban county in the world. It had the first stock exchange (1602), Rembrandt and Vermeer were part of its flourishing art scene, and its merchant class was prosperous and high in status. (Below is shown the Rembrandt painting of wealthy burghers).

The Dutch economy was based on sea trade, its navy tasked with guarding shipping routes and foiling invasion. They were free-traders, transporting goods around the world minus the trade duties imposed by other nations, costing the coffers and insulting the egos of the monarchs -- England's Charles ll, for instance -- of its larger rivals abroad.

Most significant to Americans, the young Republic was a federation of provinces with a representative federal government seated in the Hague (below). It had two major parties -- Orangists and Republicans. The former were conservative loyalists to King William III (played by Egbert Jan Weeber, above), wanting monarchy restored, while the Republicans were patrons of freedom of speech, religion, and legislative autonomy. Our framers were heavily influenced by the constitution of the Republic of the Dutch United Provinces.

The film meets up with Michiel de Ruyter in middle age. He had already served on whaling ships, progressed to command of vessels hunting raiders and aided in war against Spain. He bought his own ship and got rich as a trader before being redrafted into service, protecting merchant traffic from Barbary Pirates in the Mediterranean and battling the English.

A series of wars by the English sought to strangle Dutch trade. De Ruyter (Frank Lammers, shown on poster, top, and three photos below) is 46 when the film opens at the battle of Scheveningen in 1653. Republican Johan de Witt (Barry Atsma) has just been elected prime minister; and as he put it, 'Our enemies think we are too rich and too free' (that's de Witt addressing the assembly, two photos above). The film makes it seem the Anglo-Dutch wars were one long battle during which de Ruyter and his family don't age or change, though from 1653 until his death (see funeral sketch below) 23 years had passed. But what does that matter in the making of a movie hero?

During his political and professional maturity, we see his collaboration with de Witt to modernize the navy and infuse military strategy into naval battles, each more effective than the last. His most daring feat in 1667, in which he invented and deployed his newly trained corps of sea soldiers or "marines", was to sail his war ships up the Thames where they torched half the British fleet and stole flagship, HMS Royal Charles, towing it home as a trophy. King Charles ll was humiliated and met Dutch terms for peace. (Charles Dance, shown below, who plays the British monarch, is only half-seriously said to have been cast to leverage some of Dance's Game of Thrones fame.)

Sanne Langelaar (below, left), as Anna de Ruyter, is not a minor figure eclipsed by her husband's fame. To this production's credit, we see Michiel's life through her eyes, as she yearns for him to stay home yet begs him to rejoin the Anglo war being waged off shore. If he doesn't go, she says, there will be no life to come back to.

Anna's character, the political wrangling at the Hague, and the ongoing naval battles are capped by de Ruyter's majestic funeral. And there you have it. The film lacks a suspenseful Braveheart-like story arc, although the horrific murder of the democratic de Witt brothers was a match to William Wallace's demise. Admiral won't be the best epic you've ever seen, but it will be as entertaining, revelatory, and satisfying to join the Netherlanders in opposing our mutual British enemy in the 1600s, as much as we Americans fought them off in the 1700s.

The above post is written by our 

monthly correspondent Lee Liberman

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ADMIRAL, Dutch film, historical epics, Roel Reiné, sea battles, sea movies, the 1600s, The Netherlands on film,

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Thrills, fun, surprise -- and beer -- in Daniel Alfredson's KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN

Most kidnapping movies these days are nasty affairs, often with torture and murder tossed in for good measure, so it's a pleasure to report that today's film -- KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN (yes, it's that beer guy), based on a real-life event that many Americans might not be familiar with, occurring in (and lasting most of) the month of November, 1983, in The Netherlands -- is a straight-ahead, what-happened-and-why affair that sticks mostly to the facts, while providing pretty good character studies of the participants as it rolls perkily along.

As co-written by and William Brookfield and reporter Peter R. de Vries and directed handily by Sweden's Daniel Alfredson (shown at left), the film presents us with a group of pals, somewhat down on their luck and looking to make a killing somehow or other, who, when one of its earlier get-rich-quick schemes (below) goes bad, decides to kidnap the local beer maven. The IQ level and social/ emotional smarts of this group vary, so its usual leaders -- Cor (Jim Sturgess) and Willem (Sam Worthington) -- take over to see that events go as planned.

Of course they don't -- which is part of the fun. Other parts are provided by the back stories, especially that of Willem and his family. His father, it seems, spent much of his working life in the Heineken employ and was treated with something less than care and respect when he was let go. Mr. Worthington (below) keeps his anger at a simmer throughout and is quite effective.

Mr. Sturgess (below), on the other hand, seems the more chipper of the two: smart and quick to respond, but with the occasional flciker of anger and hurt that is never fullly explained. When you read the end titles that tell us what eventually happens to each of our fellows, this will give you some interesting information upon which to chew. Meanwhile, you can sit back and enjoy the thrills and surprises -- one of the best of which is provided by, of all things, a Xerox machine.

Not a surprise: how very good is one of the stars of the film, Anthony Hopkins, in the title role. We usually expect good things from this actor, and he does not disappoint here, bringing a fierce intelligence and a certan charm to the role of the beer magnate. Despite the care he appears to show for his chauffeur, who is also kidnapped and threatened with death, you can, without too much effort, ascertain in this man the ability to cast aside anything or anyone that stands in his way.

Hopkins' role, however, is but a supporting one. We could have used more of him, for sure, but that would have taken away from the propulsion and momentum the movie gains as it goes along. The rest of the supporting cast is OK, too, though only Mark van Eeuwen stands out as the worst of these bad apples. Ryan Kwanten is given so little to do that he once again mostly fades into the woodwork as one of the crew, but David Dencik registers well as Heineken's cowed driver.

Any women's roles are mostly decoration, though the actresses do what they can, given their minimal screen time. This one is all about boys being boys, and as such, it comes through as decent fun and games. If it doesn't generate as much box-office as it might, that's probably because it opts for character, time and place over violence and gore,

Kidnapping Mr. Heineken, from the newly christened distributor Alchemy, opens this Friday, March 6, in a limited release. 

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Daniel Alfredson, Dutch film, international co-productions, kidnap thrillers, KIDNAPPING MR. HEINEKEN, social protest of sorts,

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Nanouk Leopold's IT'S ALL SO QUIET: small, truthful Dutch "family film" opens at AFA

What a tiny treasure is this film about father and son farmers in an isolated area of The Netherlands. The father, very old and very infirm, is cared for -- grudgingly but decently -- by his middle-aged son. The son, however, is cared for by no one and apparently never has been. (The little we learn of his growing up indicates that his father was unduly harsh with him.) This is the heart of the sad, engrossing movie, IT'S ALL SO QUIET (Boven is het stil) that is full of small details -- of caring for the elderly as well as for farm animals -- that builds into a quietly moving study of loneliness and the inability of some of us to ever be able to reach out to anyone else.

As adapted (from the novel by Gerbrand Bakker) and directed by Nanouk Leopold (shown at left), the movie may be slow-moving but it is never uninteresting due to its expert detailing and how simple and subtle it consistently is. Ms Leopold keeps her camera ever watchful regarding the connection between father and son and between son and farm and the few other people who attempt to bridge what seems an incredible distance between them and this sad and unresponsive farmer.

As played by the late Jeroen Willems (above, left), whose untimely death occurred soon after the film was completed, the son, Helmer, is a figure of enormous empathy by us viewers, even though the character himself barely seems able to empathize with others or understand himself and his own needs.

The scenes of Helmer caring for his father (played by Henri Garcin, above, left) offers a look at the day-to-day drudgery -- cleaning up the shit, showering the old man, and the increasingly difficult chore of simply carrying him up the stairs -- that goes into the care of the very elderly.

We also slowly get a sense of the kind of upbringing Helmer must have had, in which showing affection of any kind was frowned upon. Now, this man is so socially insecure and untutored in anything approaching the social graces that he simply cannot respond in any normal way to other people's overtures. (The milk delivery man, above, clearly would like to pursue a relationship with Helmer, but can draw no response except embarrassment from our man.)

When more help is finally needed -- with the farming and the caregiving -- a young hired hand named Henk is brought aboard (Martijn Lakemeier, above, right), and it seems that a kind of break-through may come for Helmer. Things do happen and change does occur, but in the barest of increments. Possibilities lie unseen and unused, and the movie remains sad but ever-so-slightly hopeful.

The film begins and ends with some lovely shots of nature, and the natural world breaks into the narrative now and then. But what you'll remember most, I think, are the shots of the faces here, especially that of Willems, who gives a remarkable performance, all the deeper and more resonant due to his character's inability to connect.

Its All So Quiet -- from Jonathan Howell's Big World Pictures and running 91 minutes, in Dutch with English subtitles) -- begins a one-week run this Friday, January 9, at Anthology Film Archives in New York City. Click here for tickets and here for directions. Elsewhere? I'm not certain. But, being from Big World, there will most likely be a DVD on offer eventually and/or some digital streaming.

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"family" movies, Anthology Film Archives, Dutch film, farming, father & son films, IT'S ALL SO QUIET, Nanouk Leopold,

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