The Discovery of Heaven

Casting is brilliant (apart from the 5 year old Quintin who had a funny foreign/cockney mixed accent which threw me, but luckily he's only got a short part in the film). Usually I can't see Stephen Fry without getting irritated, but he Is Onno Quist! Jeroen Krabbé as usual gave himself a nice little part in the film he was directing... All in all a fitting tribute to a brilliant book, and ok, yes the end is a bit dodgy but then again the end of the book was the same and if you think about it, there was no other way to end the story... Usually if I go to see 'the film of the book' I'm left feeling disappointed, but this time I was pleasantly surprised.

It's been a long time since I've been impressed by dutch movies. I think Jeroen Krabbe managed to create a pice of art by filming this movie, after the book of Harry Mulish. I have not read the book, but I am convinced mr. Mulish will be proud of the end result. Beforehand, I was a bit sceptical about Stephen Fry, but all prejudice was unjust: this is a perfect cast. Unfortunately Jeroen appeared in this movie as Gabriel, his dutch accent makes his english sound funny. Luckily he had just a few few lines. In the spirit of dutch movies a lot of naked people, but everything was filmed with class.

In a tv interview, Jeroen recently told that people would talk to him on the streets, just to thank him for making this movie. If I would come across him in Amsterdam, I would do the same.

A must-see!

There is a lot to say about the movie, but I think you should enjoy it yourself. For me it was balancing the odds. First of all Harry Mulisch is not your average writer. I could never get into his books.

You might wonder why bother? Well that can be told in two words 'the Assault'. It got a Oscar, but even beyond that. The movie is an amazing story about the life of a boy that changes when a collaborator is executed in front of his house. The second factor was Jeroen Krabbe. He is an okay actor. Over the big international field nothing fantastic but for Dutch terms one of the best actors we have. When I saw his movie 'left luggage' I was totally overwhelmed. As a director he is at least 10 times better then as an actor. These factors made me check out 'The Discovery of Heaven.' The book I could never read. Well, it was an amazing journey. From the very beginning you will be mesmerized with the images of places unlike you would expect. The dialogues, the personality of the people and the settings. It is almost like the settings in the world politics were set up especially for these events. I think that the most amazing part is that you can go through the dialogues without ever wondering when the next action scene will be. Jeroen plays with the settings like they are part of the conversation itself.

But what is it about?

Well apparently god is not too pleased with the way the world turns. So he decides to remove his influence. This can only be done by sending someone down to get the tablets. So two men will meet a woman, the beautiful Ada Brons (Flora Montgomery) one will become the father and the child will grow up slowly receiving the images that will lead to the tablets containing the 10 commandments. The only problem is that time is running out. God's deadline must be met.

I can't wait to get this one on DVD.

Of course, the book was too good to make it into a movie. Nevertheless, the film is entertaining for non-readers and is above all, it's an equivocal enterprise. Acting is not very convincing (ada is terrible played, and humiliating is the acting of Krabbé himself, why does he always want to be "in the picture"?). The book is 900 pages and you can't fit that in two hours. The magical atmosphere, the unreal aura, and the creative style are not recognizable in the film. For example; the interventions from God and his angels are ridiculous as you see the film, where in the book, it's strange, magical and structuring. Another example; the friendship between Onno and Max is heavenly in the book, fragmentary in the film. For me, it was a 6/10; if you want a 10/10 go and read the book. But i know, it's "time-consuming" as they say, and time still seems to be money, bullsh*t of course! Time is life, time is the discovery of a heavenly book...

Holland seems to squeeze out a couple of good films every once in a while, like Soldier of Orange or Left Luggage. The Discovery of Heaven is another one. Again directed (like Left Luggage) by Jeroen Krabbé (who also stars (AGAIN)). I can understand that the film is not for everybody, but I liked it, even though I am of the generation that is used to big explosions, a lot of action and no story. The film is in English, so you won't have to struggle with that stupid Dutch and I sincerely thank Krabbé for filming Harry Mulisch's classic book entirely in English, for otherwise, I would not have seen it. It sure is the best Dutch film of the 21st century. Keep it up.

7 out of 10