De passievrucht (2003) User Reviews

A very nice movie with a subject that no Hollywood movie would dare to show

[philip_vanderveken · 8/10 · 20 September 2005]

Just like Belgium, the Netherlands don't have a very big and famous movie industry, but from time to time they really are capable of making an excellent movie. That's why I taped this movie when it was shown on Dutch national television. I had never heard of it before, but seeing that Jan Decleir - probably Belgium's finest, still living actor - played a role in it and because I'm very interested in all European movies, I didn't hesitate to give this movie a try.

"De Passievrucht" tells the story of a man who finds out that his son isn't really his son when the doctor tells him that he has been infertile during his entire life. Since his first wife, and the mother of their son, died nine years ago, he can't ask her who did it. But consumed by anger and sadness, he decides to go after the real father himself. As he goes from one possible culprit to another, he forgets that he isn't the only person in the family. His new girlfriend and his 'son' are the victims of his egoistic behavior and when he finally finds out who did this to him, the surprise couldn't be bigger...

Except for Jan Decleir and Halina Reijn, I can't think of any other actor in this movie that I've heard of before. They are all a complete mystery to me and I'm sure that I've never seen them play in another movie, but that certainly doesn't mean that they didn't do it well in this one. I really appreciated the performances of Peter Paul Muller, Carice van Houten,... and I'll certainly try to see another one of their movies if I ever get the chance. The same for the director. He too is a complete stranger to me, but with this movie he proves to have talent. That shows for instance in the excellent use of flashbacks. He never uses them too much, but knows perfectly how to switch between the now and the past.

What I also liked, next to the good acting, was the original idea behind the story: how many men raise a child that isn't really theirs and how do they react when they find out the truth? That's a subject that I've never found in any Hollywood production, but it's one that is much closer to reality than some people want to believe. Not that I'm surprised to find it in a European instead of an American movie. It just doesn't belong to the perfect image of family happiness that Hollywood wants to portray. Over here, the movie makers dare to step out of that perfect world, just like Maarten Treurniet did with this movie, and I really appreciate that a lot.

All in all this is a movie that deserves to be seen by a much larger audience. It may not always be perfect, but overall the story is good, the emotions are realistic and the acting more than just worth a watch. I really liked this movie and that's why I give it at least a 7.5/10.

Not bad at all for a Dutch movie

[nitzpitz · 8/10 · 26 November 2003]

possible spoilers

I usually avoid Dutch movies, but I saw this one in a sneak preview. I must say that the first 5 minutes were full of all my prejudices against the Dutch cinema, but the rest of the movie was above my expectations. As you probably know Dutch movies are famous for their explicit sex scenes. THe movie starts with one. But it turns out to be a rather good and well balanced drama about a man that has just found out he has always been infertile. This forms a problem, because he has a teenage son from his late wife. The big question is... WHO is the father??? The rest of the movie is about his search for the father of his son. There are detective elements in the movie, but also drama and fortunatly there are also comic moments.

I would never had gone to this movie on my one, but I can certainly recomend it. The acting is fine, the storyline interesting and the camera work is nice.

i wasn't expecting that ending. huge flaw.

[afterdarkpak · 7/10 · 26 September 2020]

First of all, the performance , direction n written well, not bad at all. the movie is nice and not boring. but there are some major flaws in the END which ruined the movie.

the story plot is kinda not NEW , there are some similar movies (foreign n English) with same plot. that husband is sterile and wife want to have child. and then things get complicated when wife got pregnant. But here in this movie, wife got pregnant though but she dead too. and then husband is looking or searching for real father and wanna know why she did that? .. now major is flaw here is that there is NOT much scenes or flash backs of wife /husband relationship or wife's lover scenes. even there are no scenes of conversations between dead wife n husband. which i think its a major flaw.

another major flaw which ruined the movie in ending that , once he found out then there is no explaining or aftermath of dead wife's deeds. even there are some few scenes of dead wife having flirtatious behaviour with multiple guys which complicate the movie but she did cheat with and why him? there is no explanation.

the only understanding in this movie that WIFE want to get pregnant. thats it.

Pleasant surprise

[Camera-Obscura · 21 September 2006]

FATHER'S AFFAIR (Maarten Treurniet - Netherlands 2003).

I was just on my way out to catch ZWARTBOEK, the latest film by Paul Verhoeven, in cinema when my party canceled at the very last moment and at the same time this movie started on television. By pure chance, DE PASSIEVRUCHT features the same two female stars, Carice van Houten en Halina Reijn.

After the sudden death of his wife (Carice van Houten) Armin Houderhout (Peter Paul Muller) finds out he was sterile all his life, but he has a 14-year old son. His new girlfriend (Halina Reijn) urges him to let it rest, but he persist and wants to find out who the father of his child is. Based on the novel by Karel Glastra van Loon, the film is constructed as a whodunit, a pleasant diversion from the self-indulgent novel, that works perfectly for the film. Basically well acted, well shot and a very good screenplay by Kees van Beijnum.

No cinematic innovations, just well crafted film-making by Treurniet et co. and for current acting in Dutch cinema, this is about as good as it gets. Peter Paul Muller, Carice van Houten, Halina Reijn, Frank Lammers, Jan Decleir, they all give very good performances. Just as I mentioned, I fell into this in the first few minutes when it came on TV, but I kept on watching it and was sucked into the story almost immediately. Fast-paced and humor to spare. One of the highlights: when Armin (Muller) is (practically hiding) in the bathroom smoking a joint to calm his nerves, just as he is about to have sex with two women (Carice van Houten en Halina Reijn) and Carice van Houten tries to persuade him to come out of the bathroom and presses her boobs against the glass door. That's my kind of fun, but don't worry, it's an insightful film.

Camera Obscura --- 8/10

another great dutch movie!!

[elmersmaling · 9/10 · 20 December 2003]

De Passievrucht is an adaptation of the debute novel of the relatively young but talented Dutch writer Karel Glastra van Loon. Years ago I read his second novel (Lisa's adem, or 'Lisa's breath'), was fascinated by it, and planned on reading his first. As usual, I never got to it. Fortunately, they recently made a movie out of his book, so last night I went and saw it in the cinema.

They did a great job. This movie is about a man who finds out he has been sterile all his life. This has two consequences: first, he and his girlfriend will never be able to have kids of their own, and second, his thirteen years old son can't actually be his son. His wife, who died nine years ago, can't tell him who the real father is anymore. But he must know. So he starts his quest for the painful truth. A number of old friends are interrogated, and his girlfriend suffers the consequences. She's in deep pain about never being able to have children, and meanwhile, all he does is chase his own nightmare.

How events eventually unfold will remain a mystery to you, my dear reader, until you watch the movie. Which I highly recommend you to do. It's a great movie about father-son relationships, about love, about sex and passion, about cheating. The movie's got humor, it has tears, it has a lot of anger. And it features the ever-sympathetic actor Frank Lammers!!

disappointing

[z-kruppa · 5/10 · 26 October 2008]

The term 'based on the bestseller of Karel Glastra van Loon' means a very free association. The film is based on the book as the Troy is based on the epic of Homer. Just the main differences: 1.- in the book the fact, that the grandfather is the biological father becomes obvious only after his death - a secret letter has been found. So Armin couldn't challenge his father. 2.- the idea of his son Bo - to spread the ashes of the grandpa onto the grave of Monica, and go on with their lives - which is a touching moment in the book to find resignation, is completely absent from the film. 3.- in the book Monica's affair with Robert (her previous lover) wasn't a blow-job (instead a jerk-off). It's not just a small nuance (even in the book Robert says 'I wanted a blow-job, but she didn't want that'). 4.- the description of the threesome with Ellen seems to be an accidental event in the book, while in the film everything looks like an orgy orchestrated by Monica 5.- in the book Ellen describes us the act between the grandfather and Monica (quite hasty but passionate, but at the same time it was - at least partly - initiated by Armin's father) 6.- it was absolutely useless to put the parents of Monica into the film, it's just one scene - and without any further explanation it's rather confusing. I understand completely, that a film would never be able to give the same feelings, emotions as the book it is based on, but in this case the film pictures Monica as a sensual whore. I think this film sacrificed all the values of the original book on the altar of popularity. Instead of concentrating on the thoughts of a man, his altered, but at the same time unchanged father-child relationship - this film makes the whole story a quest (think about the mugshots of the possible suspects). I recommend everyone (apart from the real Clarice van Houten fans, like myself :-) to read the book instead.

Maybe not as bad as expected (spoilers)

[TheOtherFool · 5/10 · 3 September 2004]

Make no mistake about it: this is a Dutch movie. So there's a woman stripping naked within the first minute. Now, considering that woman is Carice van Houten there probably won't be many complaints, but still...

Van Houten is Monika, the now dead first wife of Armin (an uninspiring Peter Paul Muller) and mother of their child, Bo. After the dead of his wife, Armin moved on and lives together with a good friend of his first wife, Ellen (Halina Reijn). When they just won't get pregnant, it turns out Armin is infertile, and has been his whole life. So who is the father of his son?

The rest of the movie is a search for the real father, and a portrait of how Armin and his 'son' try to deal with the news and each other. As said, the acting of Muller is pretty wooden, and that's too bad as the story isn't a complete waste (perhaps except the preposterous ending).

But as a whole, it somehow doesn't fit... Things just won't get that interesting and exciting, and the movie kinda drags along. I won't call it a bad movie in any way, just nothing special I suppose... Now, if you're into Van Houten on the other hand...

5/10.