Nachtrit

In many countries, taxi drivers and companies are involved in suspicious events and deals, but it is usually characteristic to less developed countries, it is hard to believe such things happening in present Holland... Anyway, the logic of the plot is in place, but many scenes and twists are predictable, paving the way for ambivalent ending. Apart from the main character Dennis (pleasantly performed by Frank Lammers), the rest are too trivial or documentary, providing no surprises. You just follow the events on screen, mostly knowing or presuming what happens next, but thanks to length (ca 1,5 hours), the film ends before becoming boring/annoying.

Having see dozens of Dutch films, I cannot include it into the best ones. On the other hand, taxi drivers or related persons might appreciate it more.

NIGHTRUN (Dana Nechustan - The Netherlands 2006).

I missed out on this film in cinema, but having been a taxi driver for many years, I still had to catch this one. I followed the conflict in the Amsterdam taxi world a couple of years ago (mostly in 2000, when the new taxi-law came into effect) with great interest, so I gathered this one was worth a look, all the more because of the film's enthusiastic reception, but what a disappointment this was. I could hardly believe what I saw. It really gave me a bad taste. The story revolves around main character Dennis (Frank Lammers) who loans a large sum of money to start up his own business. Naturally, he engages himself with the wrong people and gets himself into debt and all kinds of trouble with malicious characters in the taxi business. All this is set against the background of the tumultuous developments in the taxi branch in 2000, the year when a new "taxi law" was passed with the consequence that every idiot with a car and drivers license could become a taxi driver. The hitherto insanely expensive (and hard to get) taxi permits, sometimes acquired for hundreds of thousands of guilders with lent money, became worthless overnight.

Director Dana Nechustan and writer Franky Ribbens chose to make this as a human drama, rather than an account of the taxi conflict itself, but storywise the conflict ultimately is the sole drive for every action Dennis takes. It soon raised all kinds of questions with me and I kept asking myself; why is he going through all this trouble in the first place? The choice for a more human approach could have been a wise choice, if all the other characters weren't this collection of grossly inflated stereotypes. The taxi drivers are all racist idiots, muscle men or just plain stupid. Even main character Dennis and his brother (Fedja van Huet, not for a moment believable as a lower-class Amsterdam car mechanic) come off as little more than caricatures. The story is kept going by Dennis' utterly stupid and ultimately annoying self-destructive behaviour. There are some outside forces at work here to make his life miserable, but there were moments I hoped some of the bad guys could beat some sense into him. I doubt if this was the makers' intention. The actions of Dick Grijpink and his TCA-related bad guys are nothing more than a logical response to Dennis' stupidity. He's just so incredibly dumb and stubborn in his actions, I couldn't relate to the character at all. Very little he does, makes any sense.

The film confirmed what I already knew, as most tourists visiting the Dutch capital probably learned as well.

• Don't take a taxi in Amsterdam, unless you absolutely have to.

I have a weak spot for Frank Lammers, but this film stinks.

Camera Obscura --- 3/10

Six years after this was made and I visited Netherlands (which I do on a regular base) I found this for 1 euro at a famous Record Store (you can guess which one). Somehow the story attracted me and I was right, it was a good flick.

I can't tell how the business is played in the world of taxis but I can guess that this showed how it works. Of course it's a flick and things are a bit exaggerated. But still after a while you really get into the character of Dennis (Frank Lammers) and you can see that his dream about having a limo service isn't going to work out. So he is in desperate need for money and makes a few mistakes. The downward spiral starts.

I found it well made and the use of the typical music coming from Amsterdam (André Hazes style)did give it an extra feeling. And the ending was okay too. I can understand that people not living in Amsterdam can't understand what's going on and that may be a reason why it never will be picked up widely even as it has English subs. By which I mean, no special (CGI) effects or big explosions, just here and there a fight...Peggy Jane de Schepper (Elize) as seen in Costa (2001) does shows a jugg if you are a quick viewer.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 0,5/5 Effects 0/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5