Het meisje met het rode haar (1981)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Ben Verbong

Writers:

Ben Verbong (writer)
Pieter de Vos (writer)

Release Date:

17 September 1981 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

The story of Hannie Schaft, Dutch Resistance, told in flashback as they try to bring collaborators and criminals to justice in 1945.

Plot Keywords:

Bed Scene | Swimwear | Loyalty | WWII | Love Scene

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Renée Soutendijk	...	Hannie Schaft
Peter Tuinman	...	Hugo
Loes Luca	...	An
Johan Leysen	...	Frans
Robert Delhez	...	Floor
Ada Bouwman	...	Tinka
Lineke Rijxman	...	Judith
Maria de Booy	...	Moeder
Henk Rigters	...	Vader
Adrian Brine	...	SD-er
Chris Lomme	...	Mevrouw de Ruyter
Lou Landré	...	Otto Schaaf
Jan Retèl	...	Professor
Elsje Scherjon	...	Carlien
Hennie van den Akker	...	Van den Heuvel

Also Known As:

The Girl with the Red Hair (USA)

Runtime:

110 min | UK:121 min (special edition)

Country:

Netherlands

Language:

Dutch | German

Color:

Color (Fujicolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Company:

Meteor Film Productions

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Allemaal film: Tussen kunst en kassa (#1.5)" (2007)

It's a washed out world

Renée Soutendijk plays her first leading role as a young law student who joins the Dutch resistance in WWII and trains to be a liquidator. Having already garnered attention the year before in Paul Verhoeven's controversial "Spetters", Soutendijk decided to leave the sitcom Zeg 'ns Aah (wich had not found a big audience yet) to concentrate on a career in film after this. The movie was shot to resemble black and white pictures from the period and looks suitably bleak and gray, making the lead characters's red hair stand out even more. Eventually circumstances force her to dye it (it made her the most recognizable resistance fighter) and at that point both the story and the film seem to lose all color. Not that there was anything to laugh about in the first place.

Debutant director and co-writer Ben Verbong decided to omit any references to Jannetje Johanna Sheft (the girl with the red hair) being a communist, even though that was one of the main reasons for her to join the resistance. There is hardly any dialog anyway, as none of the group members want too much emotional attachments. Even when she does get involved with fellow resistance fighter Hugo, they never seem especially passionate. The sparseness of the spoken word makes this picture seem even more like a psychological study of the lengths people will go to in desperate times as we watch the title character struggle with becoming a hit woman on a bicycle.

Although the film is certainly well made and Soutendijk proves to be a capable lead, there is absolutely nothing uplifting in the entire picture. The combination of long silent scenes and colorless photography makes for quite a depressive sitting. The period is recreated in great detail, with only Loes Luca's different hairstyles seeming out of place at times. Verbong and Soutendijk teamed up again in 1994 for the "Sliver" like thriller 'De Flat'. This marked Renée's return to Dutch films after a stint in Hollywood and Verbong's goodbye, as he decided to move to Germany after wards.

7 out of 10