The Resurrection of a Bastard

Dutch cinema is on the rise. Last few years the films have become better and better, mainly because they're not as Dutch anymore.. Strange reasoning perhaps, but others familiar with Dutch cinema will now what I mean. This goes for mainstream films but in particular the less mainstream or even art house films. Not that I would consider "De Wederopstanding van een Klootzak" as art-house, but it definitely isn't mainstream. In that way it's a strange film, and one I really enjoyed very much. I loved the character's, of which some were kind of clichéd, cartoonesque, presented in beautiful settings and colours, meticulously framed every time. I didn't read the graphic novel on which this film is based but I can definitely imagine some of the framing is taken straight from it (as in f.e. "Sin City").

It's not all style over substance. It has two nice intimate story lines that intermingle at certain points, I won't spoil the how and when, and it shows great acting by all concerned. Yorrick van Wageningen plays Ronnie so well, I felt quite torn on whether to like him or despise him.

All in all a great Dutch film, no, a great film. Period.. And if I would have to compare it with other work, it would be Nicolas Winding Refn's 8/10

Gangsters, asylum seekers and farmers come together in the Dutch countryside in this distinctive and compelling film by Dutch graphic novelist Guido van Driel.

Here we have what seem to be two stories. In one, Ronnie, played with chilling accuracy by the somewhat grotesque Yorick van Wagenigen (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) is a ruthless gangster until an incident changes forces him to question his existence. In the other, asylum seeker Eduardo, in a sensitive turn by the talented Goua Robert Grovogui, struggles to deal with Dutch life and the trauma of whatever made him flee his country of birth.

The two stories are told in an elliptical structure that draws us into very separate lives with a series of fascinating, colourful and beautifully acted and rendered sequences.

Based on van Driel's 2003 graphic novel Om Mekaar in Dokkum, this gangster drama hybrid is a sort of existential tough-guy movie van Driel describes as a mix of 'Tarantino and Tarkovsky'. In a sense, this description doesn't do justice to the film, for while it features plenty of sardonic wit and amusing anecdotes, its real triumph is its simple humanism. It's ultimately a serious tale done straight, but with the aesthetics of the graphic novel.

If at times it feels a little arrhythmic (you're often left wanting less from a scene or feeling like you could have had more), it's perhaps partly because van Driel is first and foremost a graphic novelist, and graphic novels are guilty pleasures for individual readers, not audiences used to three acts and rising and falling action.

This needn't be to the film's detriment however, because van Driel has set out to make a film that's as faithful to its source material as possible. It's a risky decision but one that pays off thanks to fine acting, technical brilliance, and that most rare of birds: originality.

This film may not change the world, but it may just change Dutch cinema.

This is one of these movies you won't easily forget. I didn't know it was adapted from a novel, but it felt like that. They really got the gritty, graphic novel-like feel right.

The interwoven stories feel natural yet abstract: it is highly unlikely to happen but yet it feels believable. These are the hardest stories to tell.

The acting is great, by all actors. Mr. Van Wageningen plays his part superbly, you really dislike him but yet are intrigued. His looks kinda make him prefctly for this role. Overall a great watch, a gem not so well known. Unfortunatly.