Admiral (2015)

When the young republic of The Netherlands is attacked by England, France and Germany and the country itself is on the brink of civil war, only one man can lead the country's strongest weapon, the Dutch fleet: Michiel de Ruyter.

Director:

Roel Reiné

Writers:

Lars Boom, Alex van Galen

Stars:

Frank Lammers, Sanne Langelaar, Barry Atsma

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Frank Lammers	...	Michiel de Ruyter
Sanne Langelaar	...	Anna de Ruyter
Barry Atsma	...	Johan de Witt
Lieke van Lexmond	...	Wendela de Witt
Egbert Jan Weeber	...	Willem III (as Evert-Jan Weeber)
Rutger Hauer	...	Maarten Tromp
Charles Dance	...	Charles II
Derek de Lint	...	Kievit
Tygo Gernandt	...	Jozef van Ghent
Filip Peeters	...	Dequesne
Roeland Fernhout	...	Cornelis de Witt
Pip Pellens	...	Klaartje
Nils Verkooijen	...	Engel de Ruyter
Jada Borsato	...	Neeltje de Ruyter
Isa Lammers	...	Greetje de Ruyter

Storyline

When the young republic of The Netherlands is attacked by the great Kingdom of England, France and Germany and the country itself is on the brink of civil war, only one man can lead the country's strongest weapon, the Dutch fleet: Michiel de Ruyter.

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Plot Keywords:

holland | wilhelm scream | character name as title | three word title | dutch | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebookpage official Instagram

Country:

Netherlands

Language:

Dutch English French

Release Date:

23 February 2016 (USA)

Also Known As:

Адмирал

Filming Locations:

Dam Square, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands

Box Office

Budget:

€7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

€827,933 (Netherlands), 1 February 2015, Limited Release

Company Credits

Production Co:

Farmhouse Film & TV, Ciné Cri De Coeur, AVROTROS

Technical Specs

Runtime:

151 min 123 min (UK video)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In order to make the film accessible for school classes and families who want to see it in the cinema, a 12+ version with a few cuts in the most explicit scenes was also released.

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Goofs

Michiel de Ruyter is shown as being present in The Hague at the lynching of the De Witt brothers but he was not in The Hague, as also a mob who tried to find him in reality discovered.

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Alternate Versions

In the Netherlands, the movie was released in two different versions in the cinema. One of the versions lack explicit images of a lynching and also the death scene of the main character is made less horrific. This version has certification: 12 years and older.

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Connections

Referenced in De slimste mens ter wereld: Episode #10.6 (2017)

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Soundtracks

Michiel de Ruyter (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Written by Trevor Morris
Published by Riva Media Records
courtesy of VOCfilm B.V.

User Reviews

An amazing accomplishment, and not just special effects

This could easily be one of the best Dutch movies made so far. It is not only an amazing accomplishment because of the spectacular naval battles and special effects, but also because it manages to explain all of the historical context. And on top of that, it not only manages to tell De Ruyter's story, but also that of other important historical characters, such as Charles II, Willem III, Johan De Witt, and several others.

The movie struggles occasionally to fit all of De Ruyter's career in just one movie. And especially the first half of the movie suffers from misplaced patriotism that feels almost un-Dutch, with a lot of slow motion close ups of waving Dutch flags, and long winded speeches about freedom and liberty. It struggles with its dialog, and especially at the start it often indulges too much in spouting exposition, and in trying to remind the audience of the time period.

But those minor issues aside, this is a great film. It even takes some risks by showing Wilhelm III's blatant taste for boys over girls, and by showing the gruesome betrayal of the brothers De Witt. All of this is historically accurate, so that can't really be considered a spoiler to anyone who has bothered to read a bit of history.

The movie has a great soundtrack, and beautiful costumes, while using a lot of real locations (which have been made to look period-accurate with a little help of some CGI). At times the ships clearly look computer generated, but all of that can be forgiven because of the beautiful camera work, and an almost American-style of cinematography. This movie does not look Dutch. It looks like a Hollywood movie. And I think that makes it a lot more accessible to foreign audiences.

I recommend it.