Theo en Thea en de ontmaskering van het tenenkaasimperium

Theo and Thea are the very incarnations of typical Dutch humor. They started as two 'children' that commented on daily life and children's issues at their weekly show on TV. Later on, Arjan Ederveen and Tosca Niterink included several other characters in the show,like Ans Aarsema and Bea Hoffman. Their last Theo & Thea project was a movie, starring nearly all of their characters.

For an international audience it is hard to explain what makes this movie so brilliant. The story is extremely silly, the budget is probably zero, the scenery is operetta kitsch, the performance of the actors is over the top and yet I thought I was going to die with laughter the first time I saw it in the theater, as did the rest of the audience. My sister and I still quote this movie, seventeen years later.

The best scene is the one in the jazz-café in which our two heroes have to ensnare Marco Bakker to play the role of handsome prince in their film version of Snow White. Marco Bakker is an national operetta celebrity and the last person whom you would expect to see in this kind of movie. Their hilarious jazz version of 'slaap kindje slaap'(a lullaby)in the blue haze of the pipe smoking jazz audience is legendary. Also their trip to Austria with a very shabby and overcrowded trailer behind Bakker's sports car, while singing 400 couplets of 'een potje met vet' is unforgettable.

Still, you probably need to be Dutch (or Dutch-minded) and around 30 years of age (which would mean you grew up with the Theo & Thea TV show) to fully appreciate the movie. For the non-Dutch who have an interest in the Dutch psyche, this is excellent study material. Enjoy it.