Cloaca

A cloaca is the rear body opening of an animal that serves as the only opening for the digestive (rectum), reproductive, and urinary tracts (Wikipedia). In this film however it is the word with which a group of study friends greet each other. They did so when they were at the university and they still do as forty-somethings. Being Latin in origin the word sounds chic but has a rather down to earth meaning.

There are many films about study friends meeting each other at a reunion later in life. "The big chill" (1983, Lawrence Kasdan) and "The return of the secaucus 7" (1979, John Sayles) comes to my mind. Although I have seen neither of them I think I can imagine the main theme. Former idealism has gone and boring daily routine has taken its place.

"Cloaca" is different. In Cloaca the main characters are not just disillusioned, their life is a mess.

Joep (Gijs Scholten van Aschat) is hoping to become minister in the next government but at the same time his marriage is such a wreck that his wife has put him outside the house.

Maarten (Jaap Spijkers) is a director just before the opening night of his new play. He has an affair with one of the actresses, bareley 18 years old. This actress turns out to be the daughter of Joep.

Tom (Peter Blok) is a lawyer recovering from a cocaine addiction.

Pieter (Pierre Bokma) is a civil servant working on the department that implements the subsidy scheme for artists. Every year at his birthday he is allowed to handpick a painting that otherwise would be stored in the municipal warehouse. This arrangement is however unofficial. When a painter dies and his work becomes very expensive the municipality wants his work back. In the meantime Pieter has however sold some of the paintings to cover daily expenses.

When these troubled friends come together the central question is if their problems have made them selfish or is there still some loyalty left? The answer is only given at the denouement. Up till then there is a "not with or without you" sentiment between men only. The dialogues are razor sharp reminding me of "Who is afraid of Virginia Woolf' (1966, Mike Nichols), although in this film the "not with or without you" sentiment relates to a marriage and not to a friendship.

There are some comic scenes, such as the silly dance on the music of Madness the friends perform for Joep at his birthday. Most of all however I remember some beautiful images. One of them is the actress (yes the one Maarten is having an affair with) smeared with mud that is rinsed off her naked body during the final scene of the play. This image made it to the poster. More impressive and more meaningful however is the image of a boat with four student on it sailing through the canals of the city. One student is playing a piano, the others are drinking beer. This image occurs twice in the movie. Is it real or is it a memory? I am inclined to think the last.

Calling this movie one of the best Dutch in recent years is perhaps not enough. It certainly deserves a spot among the best Dutch movies of all time as well!

If I had to compare this movie to any other, I would say that this movie is the Dutch "Glengarry Glen Ross". It has only powerhouse actors in it, the movie doesn't just have one main character, it follows multiple story lines from all the different characters and it has an excellent written story. Don't let the fact that this is just a 'made for TV' movie scare you of. The only reason the movie didn't got a theatrical release is because Dutch cinema in general is not very popular by the main stream audience and besides movies like this just don't do well in Dutch cinema's, regardless of the language spoken. A shame because that also in a way means that not too often Dutch movies like "Cloaca" will ever be made and released. This movie however truly screams for more.

The story at first starts of rather simple but just like in real life things are more complicated than they at first seem. Every character in the movie has problem(s) on their own and the one thing that connects everything is their friendship. The four old college buddies, now in their forties, try to help each other but have to cope with their own difficulties as well. By helping each other out they discover the true meaning of friendship and start evaluation the way their lives are progressing thus far and where things went wrong for them and they let the 'good old times' revive as well. It's a real character movie and a movie like this always requires some extremely good actors. "Cloaca" really has this. It makes the movie, the story and the situations in this all feel very real and understandable.

"Cloaca" has the best acting you'll probably ever see in a Dutch movie. All of the actors in this movie are well taught and established actors, who appear mostly on the stage. It's too bad that Dutch movies not too often give the chance to let actors like this shine on the silver screen. Ductch cinema doesn't often offer roles like these to actors of this caliber. Pierre Bokma, Gijs Scholten van Aschat and Pierre Bokma are all probably the best Dutch actors at the moment. It also definitely helps the movie that the three of them are real life friends and went to college together (along with the movie its director Willem van de Sande Bakhuyzen), it definitely shows on screen, since they all have such a great chemistry and share some great anticipation and reaction with each other. It lifts their performances to an even higher level and makes the timing spot on.

The movie is deliberately kept low key. No fancy tricks are used and the movie mostly relies on telling its story purely through its characters. It's based on a stage play by Maria Goos, which starred for most part the same actors that also appear in this movie. It means that the movie also feels 'stagey' at times, with its characters and dialog. This doesn't always work out well in movies but there are exceptions and when there are exceptions, they are always brilliant ones. "Cloaca" is a wonderful example of this. It's a real shame by the way that the British Kevin Spacey stage play version wasn't an huge success.

The movie is extremely well directed by Willem van de Sande Bakhuyzen. Of course the storytelling is slow but van de Sande Bakhuyzen's directing keeps the pace always high and the movie interesting. The movie also has some beautiful cinematography and a suiting musical score. A real lost for Dutch cinema, that Willem van de Sande Bakhuyzen died in 2005 of cancer. He made the best movies in his last years and I would had definitely been interested in seeing more movies of him, definitely if they were like "Cloaca".

10/10

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This is a tv movie and it shows, production value seems low and cinematography regarding, it's not that beautiful to watch. However, since it's based on a theatrical play, all this are not important. There are other things to enjoy here, for instance the script. It's a clever script, characters are well written and the problems they face, seem real and relatable. Specially if you are over 30-35 years old.

Furthermore, the acting, every actor here did a good job.

This is a good comedy/drama: You won't laugh out loud but there are some funny scenes, some emotional ones, overall it was an interesting movie, maybe not exciting neither a movie which will stay with you.

Most fans of this subgenre will probably like it. I would prefer a different ending, perhaps less melodramatic but still, it was not bad at all.

Even though this is 'just' a TV movie, it has the look and feel of 'real cinema'.

The lead roles are played by Dutch stage actors (the movie is based on a successful stage play with the same name, featuring the same actors), but most of these actors were in motion pictures and TV films before, so they know very well (or even remarkably well) how not to play to the balcony.

The cinematography is simply beautiful and the editing is what I would call 'fluent'. A nice rhythm of long, medium and close-up shots and some dolly work at the right times. Some Dutch movies try to look like a reality-TV show, but this one has cinematic qualities.

Since the main theme is friendship eroded by ambition, secrets, and betrayal, it does not really matter that the storyline and settings are a bit 'overburdened' (I mean, a future cabinet minister, a stage director chasing the lead actress in his play, a homosexual civil servant accused of stealing paintings, and an attorney with a cocaine addiction and a tendency to cut himself up - that's richer than Holland's Golden Age ..).

The supporting roles are fine, with Laura (the 18-year old daughter of one of the friends and femme fatale for one of the other friends) delivering some magnificent Lolita eye candy.

Well done, and good news for Dutch cinema. This movie deserves to be on wide-screen celluloid in a theater near you.

8/10.

2003 was a good year for Dutch Cinema. Not only did we see the success release of 'Van God Los' and 'Phileine zegt sorry', 2003 also saw the release of Cloaca. This movie will appeal to a smaller audience than the other two i just mentioned, but if you read this, go see it. The movie is about four former student buddyies who meet each other in their mid-40ties. One just left his wife, another was a top lawyer but had a nervous breakdown. The 3th guy has a legal battle with his boss, and the last is a director of a stage play, and he is screwing his main actress, the 18 year old daughter of his best friend. The 4 meet and see that their dreams in college have not exactly come true. The question is, is there still a way out for any of them. This may sound like the beginning of a feel good movie, but it isn't. cloaca is funny, dark, depressing and ultimately without mercy. A must see.