Being a Dutchman I can say in generate that we're not very fond of our own movies. As Dorp aan de rivier is one of our history gems, with an Oscar nomination for best foreign film as well,(lost with three other nominees from Black Orhpeus), the year in which Bert Haanstra won the Oscar for the best documentary Glas, you could have expected more response on this IMDb-page, but alas, I'm the first one. The movie is released by Quality films in a Fons Rademakers-box, together with the likes as Max Havelaar and Oscar winner De Aanslag (The Assault). What to say about Dorp? The Anton Coolen books about this peculiar village doctor were very famous in the last century. The more recent "Help de dokter verzuipt/ Help, the doctor is drowning") picks of the same tales. If this movie had been Swedish, Turkish or from Poland, I think I would have watched less critical, and just liked the kind stories, black and white colors, the patience, the lightning. As a Dutchman you think, hey Mary Dresselhuys in her forties, look, it's 'Bromsnor' (Lou Geels) as the constable)!. You grin about the strange mix of (forced) local accents or think well at least, you can hear what they say, which is not very common in Dutch films ("onverstaanbaar goed"). The spectacular dull 1959 trailer, put as an extra on the DVD, gives a good expression how Holland rocked in these ages. Maybe extra special how Rademakers made this movie.
Yes, now that I'm writing this, there are still a few beautiful scenes on my mind, like the scene how the son peeps through the window how his father secretly buries his wife in their own garden. At least Dorp aan de rivier make me want to see some more movies from our past.
