Stille nacht

Stille Nacht, which means "Quiet Night" is an excellent Dutch thriller. Loosely based on true events, it tells the story of 5 female student friends who intend to hunt down a serial rapist with a taste for female students biking alone in dark woods. They pursue their goal with great vigor (the police is invisible here) and quickly have a large list of eligible rapists. The movie is a combination of a psychological whodunit combined with classic (Blair Witch-like) horror scenes. The overall acting of the young female actors is a bit stiff initially but gets better as the movie develops. Although this movie makes a clear anti-man statement it is not over-the-top and quite understandable if you identify with the girls.

What keeps this movie going, to my mind, is the excellent performance of the actresses who all play very well, Victoria Koblenko being the most convincing. As for the story - there are so many holes in it I cant even begin to list them. Not only does the actual story make no sense, the development of the characters is strange and unexplained. To name but a few: Why is the "storyteller" visiting the psychiatrist really, I mean, what is her inner motive? Why should she say that, looking back on it, it is logical Josefien should have that idea? Locations and atmosphere are generally good, with a less few exceptions, actors perform well and there is an element of suspense. Should they have taken the trouble to add a better story it could have been a great film (for Dutch standards anyway) - now it's just not a bad film.

The young woman Laura Fischer (Caro Lenssen) has a session with a psychologist. The session begins with Laura telling that after two years of successive rapes of female students riding bicycles in the woods nearby the campus of the college where she studied, the student Emma Machielsen (Liesbeth Kamerling) forms a committee with Josien Schippers (Josefien Hendriks), Marieke Kopermode (Victoria Koblenko), Bonnie Javoer (Christel Oomen) and her to discuss a possible solution with the dean. However, the dean claims that he has no budget to improve the security and could only afford to provide three buses for the students. The girls decide to bike through the woods together in convoy, but when Marieke is late, they leave her alone in the campus. She decides to cross the woods alone, and the serial rapist rapes her. Her friends decide top investigate the crimes by themselves and they prepare a list of possible rapists, leading the group to a tragic consequence.

"Stille Nacht" is a simple but realistic thriller, without special effects but supported by a solid screenplay and great performances that give credibility to the tense and dramatic plot. The five unknown lead actresses are excellent and the director does not need to use any sort of exploitation in spite of the sexual theme to make the story work perfectly well. The cover of the Brazilian DVD distributed by Daylight Films makes references to IMDb reviews; unfortunately the DVD has interviews in Dutch without subtitles in Portuguese, in a total lack of respect with the viewers. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Quando a Noite Cai" ("When the Night Falls")

"Stille Nacht" is average in many ways. It's one of those typical movies were there is not an awful lot wrong with but it also ain't exactly anything special to watch. A typical 6 out of 10 movie. Watchable but not that highly recommendable.

A thing that could have helped to make this movie a better one is the script. It's obvious that they wanted to create a realistic story and atmosphere, which makes it even more silly that yet the have put in some typical 'Hollywood' thriller moments in the movie, including a typical Hollywood like ending. All of the male characters in the movie are also portrayed as sexual obsessed creatures. The anti-male message is a bit too much present for my taste.

The acting is good but the good actors can't help concealing some of the weak dialog at times. There are some truly talented young actresses in this movie, of which I'm sure we will hear a lot more about in the future (well, at least in The Netherlands we will.).

The typical thriller like atmosphere is good and the movie is overall well executed. Ineke Houtman is a good and talented director, if you get the chance, see her other movie "Madelief: Krassen in het tafelblad", it's one of the best executed and powerful children dramas I have ever seen. As for this movie, it's a good attempt but the script could have used some more work. Less Hollywood moments next time please, it would have helped to make the movie more believable and realistic.

If you get the chance, see it on TV some time. It's not really worth owning it on DVD.

6/10

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The title of the movie means 'silent night'. When I hear this title I think of the woods in the movie which I find scary. Especially if you can imagine being a student and having to ride through a dark forest at your way home. This was a great Dutch movie and actually a whole lot better than most American movies. That's because it has something to it, it's not like the regular expectations you get while watching an American movie that's been made like a 1000 times. It was deeper. Also the new talent in the movie, like Victoria Koblenko, was great. The movie is about five young students who start looking for a serial rapist themselves when the police is getting nowhere. When one of the girls gets raped, things get serious. This movie is the proof that Dutch movies are getting better and better. I especially hope to see Victoria Koblenko, Liesbeth Kamerling and Josefien Hendriks back in many movies.