directed
by Fons Rademakers
Holland 1976
The Book 'Max Havelaar' is the exclamation mark of Dutch
culture, and labeled 'the only
Dutch contribution to world-literature'. Written in 1859 by Eduard Douwes
Dekker, under
the alias 'Multatuli'. Which means 'I who suffered much', a line Max (Peter
Faber) uses
poignantly in the film of old master Fons Rademakers. It indicates that the
scenario, of
Gerard Soeteman, is very good indeed.
The book is much like the package Sjaalman (*) is carrying around in the
beginning of the
film. The masterpiece is a tight knot document build up from loosely connected
stories
and essays. The novella 'Saidja & Adinda' is an autonome text in the book,
which has been
integrated majestically in the scenario. The brilliant parable of the Japanese
stonecutter
resurfaces in the film as a story told by Tine to the kids...
Hated as much as it was admired in the early stages, the book is more of a
political
pamphlet (a 'J'Accuse' of the Dutch Emile Zola, one might say, but then on an
epic scale..).
The document deals with all the corruption and oppression the colonial powers
of Dutch
Government could muster. And boy, were they 'good' at it !
The film had much to live up to, and in 1976 it seemed quite impossible to
mount such a
huge production for a Dutch film.
Thanks to the superb script, the excellence of one of the most prolific
directors of the Low
Countries, AND not in the least to the strong co-producers from Indonesia, the
film
became a landmark in Dutch Film history, cast and crew excelling in every way
and going
beyond their own limitations for the very first time. A turning point in the
film business of
Holland. Most of all a superb saga with a pretty strong cast and an unbeatable
story !
NB: The full-length audio-commentary of Fons Rademakers has been subtitled on
this
DVD, and is pretty intriguing.
NB2: Monique van de Ven, who became an icon overnight when Paul Verhoeven
yanked her
out of acting-school and gave her the lead role in 'Turkish Delight' in 1973
(another
emblem of Dutch Culture, again from a famous/notorious book), is credited as
'script girl'
here. Shooting in Indonesia took 4 months and her newlywed spouse, Jan de
Bont, was the
director of cinematography of both 'Turkish Delight' and 'Max Havelaar' (and
later the
director of 'Speed' and such)...
(*) Most of the names in MAX HAVELAAR are run of the mill, but there are a few
exceptions, which aren't explained in the subtitles:
Droogstoppel = 'Dry Stubble' when literary translated-
Sjaalman = the man with a shawl, indicating he is a pauper who has no money for an overcoat -
Wawelaar, the minister (preaching in the glorious Bavo church in Haarlem) = 'Windbag' -
The black soldier that whistles is called Bouvier, which is a big black dog in the Netherlands -
Resident Slijmering = 'Toad', 'Slimeball', 'Creep' (quoting from my dictionary); 'Slijm' means mucus or phlegm
Posters
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Theatrical Release: January 1st, 1976
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Review: A-Film Home Entertainment - Region 2 - PAL
| DVD Box Cover |
|
| Distribution |
A-Film Home Entertainment Region 2 - PAL |
| Runtime | 2'50 |
| Video |
2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
|
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
|
| Bitrate |
|
| Audio | Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Dutch |
| Subtitles | Dutch, German, French, English, Italian |
| Features |
Release Information: Studio: A-Film Home Entertainment Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 30 |
| Comments | A-Film
Entertainment did a good job with this epic, very well defined contrast
ratio with
deep rendition of blacks and not too many washouts, nice sharpness
throughout most of
the film and only few sporadically soft passages detected that could be
attributed to low lit
or intentionally out of focus set ups. Chroma has a nice balance with well
defined color
correction, few scenes appear over saturated but could have been
intentional or filtered.
Not to many detectable artifacts attributed to poor encoding and mediocre
datacine.
Included multilingual subtitles feature properly displayed font with
discernible translation. Audio well transcribed from original source with well balanced frequency response and good dynamic range, beautiful attention to ambient sounds that were incorporated with dialog and other sound elements. Limited distribution of A-Film Entertainment is the only drawback to this release, one so far can only obtain it in the Benelux countries. Gracious help came from Amsterdam in obtaining this immense adaptation, masterfully done by Fons Rademakers. I've asked Eric to enlighten non Dutch viewers on this film with a review, rightfully so Eric broadens our horizons with details that are so critical to historical epics of monumental proportions. Thank you Eric. |
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Mail cheques, money orders, cash to: or CLICK PayPal logo to donate!
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Gary Tooze
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Thank You!
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