The Dutch Master

I loved "The Dutch Master" and thought it was well made, a really special movie and rather magical, and am looking

for a video copy I can buy somewhere.

Unfortunately, the charisma that emanated from Sorvino in The Dutch Master is lacking in other films.

What appealed to me - and what I saw for the first time in a TV-movie - was the actors turning to the camera to comment on the plot, resp. the character played by Sorvino. This method was copied in the first episodes of "Sex and the City", by the way.

A great short film!

Let's face it. It's a fantasy. And who doesn't like to fantasize once in a while. The three young female dental assistants we meet in this film are surely no exceptions. They work together, lunch together and spend their evening hours together (and probably gossip about men and sex). Suddenly one of them is bitten by the love bug and becomes very dreamy as she moons around. She spends all her spare time looking at a Dutch painting in a public art gallery.

And now the most interesting part of the film starts to evolve. She is completely mesmerised by the painting, examining every detail from the handsome face of the male figure to the enticing gesture of the lady raising a glass of wine. In the background of the picture she notices a door leading to an inner room.

Was it this door which set her fantasizing? Was she experiencing some inner glow? Was it some unfulfilled desire?

Behold! The painting comes to life and in some strange way she is a part of the activity. She finds herself in the inner room where she observes this handsome man disrobing and stepping into a warm bath after peering through a secret peephole in the wall at two lovers vigorously engaged on a bed.

It is said that people interpret art in their own way and to their own satisfaction. In this short film the gallery attendant finds her collapsed on the floor in front of the picture which goes to prove I suppose that some pictures have a very powerful message and can work wonders on the psyche.

I thought it was quite a nice light-hearted comedy with splendid detailed costumes and interesting characters. Some of the scenes in the dentist's chair were quite amusing. Nothing like that ever happened to me.

Absolutely the worst film ever made. (except for battlefield earth) I cannot emphasize enough how bad this movie is I could write a book on every thing this movie did wrong and all the bad things about it but since I don't have the respect for it ill just write this little rant.