Renée Soutendijk

As the third big screen adaptation of a popular youth novel by author Carry Slee to be produced by Maria Peters and directed by Dave Schram (the other two, Afblijven and Timboektoe, were shot in 2006 and 2007 respectively), Radeloos plunges into the turbulent waters of teen melodrama. Marius Gottlieb and Marloes van der Wel star as two close friends, both 17 years old. He's a troubled adolescent, moonlighting as a disc jockey, who falls prey to alcoholism following the death of his father; she's a misunderstood young woman, stricken by a severe eating disorder, who harbors an unexpressed love for the DJ. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Two brothers who haven't spoken in years discover there are a great many things they don't know about each other in this dark drama. Luc (Jaap Spijkers) and his wife Mieke (Camilla Siegertsz) live in the Netherlands, where they were born and raised. Fifteen years before, Luc's brother Ad (Jack Wouterse) mysteriously disappeared, and no one has heard from him since, but one day Luc gets a surprising phone call informing him that Ad is alive and well and living in Belgium. Luc and Mieke quickly travel to Belgium to see Ad, though Mieke has some misgivings, since she's pregnant and due to give birth in a matter of weeks. Luc and Mieke discover than Ad and his wife Els (Renee Soutendijk) live in a tiny cottage in the woods, cut off from the world, and Ad has no particular interest in explaining what he's been doing for the fast decade and a half. Frustrated and wary of Ad and Els' shabby living conditions, Mieke soon returns home, but Luc stays on, hoping to rebuild his bridges with his brother. Time seems to only aggravate long-standing tensions between the brothers, which is not eased by the increasing rapport between Luc and Els. Before long, Luc begins hearing strange noises in the basement under Ad's hovel, and he discovers that Ad and Els have been hiding a terrible secret -- a deformed, almost feral boy who is kept in a cage like a wild animal. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Filmed on location in Holland, the made-for-cable The Little Riders is set during the wartime Nazi occupation of that country. Living with her Dutch grandparents in the village of Kirkendam, American-born Joanne Hunter (Noley Thornton) is a helpless bystander in the real-life drama being played out between the locals and German occupational officer Captain Kessel (Malcolm McDowell). Grimly determined to break down any and all resistance to the Nazis, Kessel is prepared to destroy the villagers' most cherished possession: He intends to dismantle the six lead statues--or "little riders"--which revolve hourly on Kirkendam's 300-year-old clock tower, and melt them down for bullets. Intensifying the situation is the growing relationship between Joanne and Lt. Braun (Benedick Blythe), a conscience-stricken German officer billeted in her grandparents' home. Paul Scofieldheads the cast as the clock's caretaker, who also happens to be the head of the resistance movement--not to mention Joanne's grandfather. The Little Riders debuted March 24, 1996, over the Disney Channel. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

It seems that misdeeds by inhabitants of the Dutch provinces make for believable stories, whether they are mysteries by Willem van de Wettering, or psychological thrillers by Simon Vestdijk, who wrote the book this film is based on. In the story, set in the 1950s, Hendrik Grond (Gijs Scholten van Aschat) has a good law practice, and a happy marriage which has produced a son. He is so contented that his world is completely shattered when, undetected, he catches his wife in bed with his law firm's senior partner. In fact, he has become quietly unhinged, and he arranges a series of "accidents" to ensure his revenge - becoming involved in the local underworld in the process. Will he succeed in committing a series of "perfect" crimes, or will the police inspector (Johan Simons) investigating these incidents get wise? ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this provocative drama, the young son of a Holocaust survivor searches for the answers to many painful questions about the great tragedy when he is cast as Hungarian-Jewish poet Miklos Radnoti for an upcoming film. The young man is a Method actor and as he researches his role he becomes so engrossed in the life of the poet, who was killed in a Jewish labor camp, that he begins to lose his identity. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

When a young woman believes that she is being controlled by spirits, she hires a parapsychologist to root out the source of her torment. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Martin (Marius Muller Westernhagen) is an Australian tourist forced to land in Hamburg in this routine thriller. He is mistaken for a notorious hitman and is pursued by the authorities. With help from the darling Dutch woman Juliane (Renee Soutendjik), the two are chased through the city by the thugs and the law. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The two-part King of the Olympics was released during the 1988 Summer Olympic games. David Selby stars as Avery Brundage, the 19th century sports enthusiast who spearheaded the movement to revive the Olympic games in modern times. We all know the outcome, so there's really no necessity to sit through the film's wearisome four hours. For the record, Part One of King of the Olympics finds Brundage running up against obstacle after obstacle in realizing his dream--and wooing and winning several young ladies along the way. So, for that matter, does Part Two. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A very strange advertisement appeared in the personals section of The Village Voice in 1985. It offered to trade lives for one whole month. That is, each of the parties involved would inhabit the other's life completely. This movie is based on the screenwriter's idea of what might have transpired had that trade taken place in the Netherlands. In this amusing drama, Liesbeth is a masterful mother and wife who tends to her two boys and teen-aged girl with great affection and competence, while deferring to her psychiatrist husband for all major decisions. She fears she may be missing something, and at the urging of her husband, she places a "life-swapping" ad. All goes well until her husband learns that she has made her decision about whose life to swap with without consulting him. At first, the psychiatrist and his children are distressed to be cared for by a zany single woman writer who wears bright makeup and clothes and doesn't coddle anybody, but eventually the ice breaks, and they develop some affection for one another. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

This made-for-television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's satiric novel has been given an elegant rendition for its North American DVD release. Scoop has been transferred to disc in its original full-frame aspect ratio of 1.33:1, and the audio is in Dolby Digital Mono. The dialogue is in English, with no multiple language options included. Bonus materials include text biographies of author Evelyn Waugh and cast members Denholm Elliott and Michael Maloney. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The first victory in The Second Victory is the Allied triumph in World War II. British major Anthony Andrews, in charge of the occupation troops in a remote Austrian village, must deal with the uncooperative attitude of the locals when one of his men is killed by a deranged Axis soldier. Andrews also pursues a romantic involvement with Birgit Doll, the niece of crooked lawyer Max Von Sydow. The lawyer kills himself when his crimes are revealed, whereupon Birgit, heretofore the only "sympathetic" villager in the film, turns on Andrews, holding the Major responsible for her uncle's death. We strongly suspect that the title The Second Victory was meant to be ironic: Nobody wins in this one. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Set in 1941 in Amsterdam, this is a story of humanity -- specifically, Otto (Gerard Thoolen) the Jewish owner of an ice-cream shop, his best friend Gustav (Bruno Ganz), and his friend Trudi (Renee Soutendijk) -- facing the dangers of an escalating war and the specter of fascism. The outgoing, fun-loving Otto came to Amsterdam from Berlin, and while his shop is a focus for anti-Nazi activists, Otto also cares about making good ice cream and supplying his customers with the best pastries he can manage. When his friend Gustav is on leave from the army for awhile, he spends some time with Otto and falls in love with Otto's friend Trudi. As conditions and the environment around them fluctuate and change, the three friends react differently. But it is certain that Otto's gatherings of anti-Nazi activists are not going to be unnoticed for long -- and whether he is fully aware of it or not, the prognosis is not good.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A stuck elevator is used as an allegory for modern German society in this provocative drama. Within the motionless box are four very different people. One is a light-fingered young courier, and another is an embezzler, while the other two are an unhappy couple on the verge of a breakup. Making it worse is the fact that the elevator seems to have a nasty mind of its own. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide