Hot Picks
|
|
|
Het Debuut
The Debut
Netherlands 1977
produced by René Solleveld, Matthijs van Heijningen for Sigma Film Productions, VHS
directed by Nouchka van Brakel
starring Marina de Graaf, Gerard Cox, Pleuni Touw, Kitty Courbois, Dolf de Vries, Wendy Ferwerda, Sandrien van Brakel, Pieter Fleury, Joop Keesmaat, Judith Hees, Simone Ettekoven, Hans Kemna, Adrian Brine, Yvette Merlin, Mathilde Willink, Daco de la Bretonnière, Arnoud R.H. Lauxtermann
screenplay by Nouchka van Brakel, Carel Donck, based on the novel by Hester Albach, music by Ron Westerbeek
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
|
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rather unexptectedly, 14 year old Carolien (Marina de Graaf) feels
drawn to Hugo (Gerard Cox), a friend of her dad's (Dolf de Vries) she
hasn't seen since early childhood and who has only recently returned after
years abroad. Now while she's in her teens he's 41, and he's married to
Rita (Pleuni Touw), happily married from the looks of it. However he's
charmed by the girl, and of course she notices he's interested and is as
sexually inexperienced as she's curious. The two start going out together
behind the backs of both Rita and Carolien's parents, and it's not long
before they land in bed together. All seems very well for a while, and the
two seem to be genuinely in love, but the picture soon gets cracks - first
when Rita announces she's pregnant, then a short vacation together lacks
the romance intended, they notice apart from sex they lack common
interests, and it's not long before the free-spirited Carolien gets fed up
by Hugo's almost fatherly attitude. But breaking up turns out to be much
harder than either of them has expected ...
In topic, this is a film that has 1970s written all over it,
and pretty much couldn't be made today without causing a major
controversy. But that said, this film does nothing to promote sex with
underage girls (actually rather the contrary if you read between the
lines) but puts the focus on telling a story about a love (maybe only an
imagined love) doomed from the start, without condemning one side or the
other or driving some message home with a sledgehammer. And a subtle yet
compassionate directorial effort as well as very relatable central
performances make this film work quite as well as it does.
|
|
|
review © by Mike Haberfelner
|
Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
|
|
|
Thanks for watching !!!
|
|
|
Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
|