Here's a film that few of you will have seen, though most of you will have seen one or more other films by its director, Paul Verhoeven. Since coming to Hollywood, Verhoeven has directed several films with major box-office success, but many critics would argue that his best work came from earlier in his career, before he linked up with the glamour city.

Historical Background: Dutch director Paul Verhoeven has worked on both sides of the Atlantic. Born July 18th, 1938 in Amsterdam, Verhoeven earned a Ph.D. in mathematics and physics before turning to filmmaking. His entry point into cinema consisted of documentary work for the Royal Dutch Navy and Dutch television. His debut feature film was Business Is Business (1971), but his second film, Turkish Delight (1973), a marriage satire, made more of an impression. Verhoeven's fourth film, Soldier of Orange (1977), was his breakout film and garnered significant attention, including the Los Angeles Film Critics' selection as Best Foreign Film in 1979. Before flying off to Hollywood (Der fliegende Holländer?), Verhoeven completed the European phase of his career with the stylish thriller, The Fourth Man (1979) (See MrsNormanMaine's Review), and the Dutch coming-of-age straight and gay film, Spetters (1980) (See DavidMac's Review).

Stephen Spielberg had invited Verhoeven to come to Hollywood after seeing Soldier of Orange and Verhoeven finally took him up on it in the mid-eighties. Verhoeven's first English language film was a joint American/Dutch venture entitled Flesh + Blood (See Vormancian's Review). After that, Verhoeven turned his full energies to making Hollywood box-office hits featuring action and violence. First out of his blockbuster box was the adroitly crafted sci-fi thriller Robocop (1987) (See deadmilkboy's Review), starring Peter Weller. After that he teamed up with Schwarzenegger for another profitable venture, Total Recall (1990) (See MrsNormanMaine's Review.) Next, adding explicit sex to his already proven formula of graphic violence, Verhoeven completed Basic Instinct (1992) (See George Chabot's Review). His next film, Show Girls (1995) (See beckytcy's Review.), further ratcheted up the titillation factor, especially for male viewers, though it was widely panned by critics. Verhoeven's most recent completed work has included Starship Troopers (1997) (See MrsNormanMaine's Review) and the poorly received The Hollow Man (2000) (See ChrisJarmick 's Review). Verhoeven's current efforts consist of a wartime thriller called Blackbook (in pre-production) and One Step Behind (recently announced). One could easily conclude from the overall pattern in Verhoeven's work that he made a career decision around 1985 to make commercial success his top priority (or that the decision was made for him by Hollywood).

The Story: The film opens with a pre-credit quasi-documentary segment showing Queen Wilhelmina returning to the Netherlands from England, after the liberation in 1945. Accompanying the Queen is her most trusted aide, adjutant Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema (Rutger Hauer). Her motorcade is joyously received by the flag-waving Dutch multitudes.

Following the credits, the story jumps back a number of years, to 1938. A fraternity at Leiden University is in the midst of hazing its latest crop of freshman inductees, one of whom is Erik. Caught hiding under a table to evade the torments of hazing, Erik and two pals are required to sing and hum for the amusement of their brethren, while the somewhat tipsy fraternity president, Gus LeJeune (Jeroen Krabbé), pours a bowl of soup or stew over Erik's head. Gus finally conclusively lowers the bowl itself onto Erik's noggin, a bit too decisively, however, since it knocks Erik out cold. Soon, Erik is recuperating at home with bandages wrapped around the top of his cranium and Gus shows up to apologize and make amends. This, it turns out, is the beginning of a friendship.

Also in their mutual circle of friends are four other fraternity brothers, Robby (Eddy Habbema), Jan Weinberg (Huib Rooymans), Alex (Derek de Lint), and Nico (Lex van Delden). During the last of the pre-war years, the six of them hang out together, sharing tea, coffee, beers, and conversation, and a group picture is taken. Before any of them can graduate, however, World War II begins. On May 10th, 1940, German troops invade the Netherlands. In their youthful exuberance, the six young men allow themselves the delusion that "a spot in the war might be exciting." Several of them hasten to join the army, but on May 14th, German planes level Rotterdam. There's a marvelous scene here with Gus and Erik riding motorcycles, while wearing tuxedos and dodging shells. The badly overmatched Dutch army surrenders without a fight, though Queen Wilhelmina, at least, is able to escape to London.

The film now follows the story of these six friends and how each is impacted by the war. Robby joins the Resistance and sets up a transmitter for communication with the leaders of the Queen's government in exile. Robby's life is complicated by the fact that his girlfriend, Esther (Belinda Meuldjik), is a Jew. The Resistance in Holland proves to be woefully inept, while the German occupiers are viciously efficient. The Germans soon track down Robby's operation and coerce him into betraying his colleagues by the threat of exporting Esther to certain death in a Polish concentration camp.

Jan, who is both a Jew and a college-level boxing champ, needs desperately to escape to England. Erik has arranged transport to England for himself, to join the resistance there, but generously gives up his spot to Jan. Unfortunately, the rendezvous with a seaplane has been betrayed and the Nazis are there in a gunboat to prevent the getaway. Some in the party are killed and Jan is captured. He is brutally tortured for information and then unceremoniously executed and buried in the dunes.

Alex (Derek de Lint) takes a different course altogether. He initially wants to join the Dutch army, but he is shunned because his mother is German. So, once the Nazis have arrived, he volunteers for the SS instead. He and Erik meet up, a couple of times, during the war, but despite being on opposite sides, they maintain their friendship and refuse to betray one another. Nico, who the others had nicknamed "Mr. Particular," puts his efficiency and head for details to good use and becomes one of the more successful leaders of the Resistance.

The two central characters remain Erik and Gus. Gus joins the Resistance and begins photographing German bunkers. An informer betrays Gus, however, and when both Gus and Erik suddenly find themselves caught up in a dragnet by the Germans, Erik provides a diversion that allows Gus an opportunity to escape. It costs Erik a few days in jail, where he briefly sees Jan being carted away to his death. The Germans release Erik, having prepped him with false information and hoping to use him as bait for identifying Resistance operations. Erik and Gus meet up again on a Swiss freighter where they have stowed away for transport to England. In London, they lunch awkwardly with the rather stiff Queen Wilhelmina and are soon fully enlisted into the Resistance activities. They take their orders from a British Officer, Colonel Rafelli (Edward Fox). Gus and Erik are assigned the task of trying to smuggle out some of the political leaders of the Netherlands, but once again their plan is betrayed and fails entirely. Later, Gus eliminates the traitor but is captured in the process and is then tortured and guillotined. Erik escapes back to England and joins the RAF. After a number of bombing missions over Germany and enjoying the diversion of a blossoming relationship with an English secretary, Susan (Susan Penhaligon), Erik is asked by Queen Wilhelmina to become her personal adjutant.

Themes: The Dutch were in a difficult situation during World War II. Their loyalties were genuinely strained. Many Hollanders fought in the Resistance while many others collaborated actively with the Nazis. Some tried to avoid involvement altogether. Although the Dutch army surrendered almost immediately after the Germans attacked, the Dutch navy and merchant marine escaped capture and fought for the Allies throughout the war. The Dutch people suffered enormously. Seventy-five percent of the Jewish population of Holland – about 104,000 people, were murdered, mostly in death camps. Another 165,000 non-Jewish Netherlanders were either killed or died from starvation during the war.

Soldier of Orange was the first film made in the Netherlands that candidly addressed the ambiguity in the loyalties of the Dutch during the war. The film angered many Dutch people by revealing the extent of collaboration. Nevertheless, the film is noteworthy for its non-judgmental stance. We see, for example, Erik and Alex maintaining respect for one another despite opposite allegiances during the war. Furthermore, Erik never really chose to be involved on the side of the Resistance or the Allies out of any moral compulsion. It was simply the opportunity that presented itself to him. These young college lads were determined to experience adventure in relation to the war and it didn't seem to matter much which side they would join. Alex initially sought to join the Dutch army but was rejected, so later joined the German SS. It's almost as if these young men were free agents in baseball or football shopping around their services to whichever team might want them. These were naïve young men and not especially astute in their political awareness. It's an honest film in that respect and one in which it is hard to distinguish the good guys from the bad – at least among the six college friends.

The film is honest in another way as well. The British never intended to initiate the liberation of mainland Europe in Holland, despite its proximity to England. The British had to keep the Germans guessing, however, about where the D-day landing would occur. The British had to maintain contact with the Dutch Resistance and the appearance of serious intent in the Netherlands so as to keep a share of the German forces tied up there. All of the action of this film, though exciting, was really in the backwater in relation to the overall current of the war. Verhoeven makes no pretense of the story having greater significance than it actually did. It might seem dismissive to reduce the events in the Netherlands to the status of a diversion, but such diversions were crucial to the success of the ultimate landing in Normandy.

Production Values: The script for Soldier of Orange was a fact-based, partly fictionalized adaptation of a memoir written by Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema entitled Soldaat van Oranje. It's an excellent script that integrates the drama of wartime action with genuine human interest. The script was co-written by Verhoeven, Gerard Soeteman, and Kees Holierhoek. The title of the film derives from the fact that the Dutch royal line is called the House of Orange. Verhoeven knows how to advance a story through images as well as dialog. We see, for example, signs popping up on storefronts that read "filthy Jews" and Esther's shaven head when she reunites with Erik at war's end. The images speak volumes. Verhoeven added a bit of gratuitous partial female nudity not included in Roelfzema's memoirs, but I'm not going to complain.

For Soldier of Orange, Verhoeven used German cinematographer Jost Vacano, who was already famous for shooting Das Boot (1981), widely considered the greatest submarine film ever made and among the best World War II films. The relationship between Verhoeven and Vacano carried over into such later productions as Robocop and Starship Troopers. There are some pretty tense and exciting actions scenes, such as the shelling and strafing of a city street by German planes, a beach landing, a shootout during the aborted escape to England, and a brilliant scene on the dance floor of a plush beachfront hotel. There's a nifty bit of film editing in the opening scene. Verhoeven intercut actual documentary footage of the Queen's return to the Netherlands with newly shot close-ups using his cast. He even coaxed the original narrator for the documentary out of retirement to add commentary for the inserted footage.

Rutgar Hauer has been a Verhoeven regular, appearing in Turkish Delight (1973) and Spetters (1980). He is perhaps best known for his role in Blade Runner (1982). His other appearances include Nighthawks (1981), Ladyhawke (1985), and Confessions of a Dangerous Man (2002). He's been typecast by Hollywood in villainous roles, because of his foreign accent, but it is obvious from Soldier of Orange that he has equal ability to play the hero. Verhoeven originally had Derek de Lint in mind for the lead part in the film but was won over by Hauer's reading of the part. He then shifted de Lint to the part of Alex.

I immediately recognized Jeroen Krabbé because of his appearance in the James Bond film, The Living Daylights (1987). He's worked repeatedly for Verhoeven, in Spetters (1980) and The Fourth Man (1983). The rest of his impressive resume includes appearances in Turtle Diary (1985), A World Apart (1988), Crossing Delancey (1988), The Prince of Tides (1991), The Fugitive (1994), Farinelli: Il Castrato (1994), Ever After (1998), and Ocean's Twelve (2004). Susan Penhaligon is a lovely actress and is perhaps otherwise best known for an appearance in the Australia film Patrick (1978).

Bottom-Line: It's a pity that so few film lovers in America have seen this film because it is probably Verhoeven's finest piece of work. It's among the best World War II films and provides a unique Dutch perspective on the war. It's dramatic, fast-paced, and educational, all at the same time. The DVD from Anchor Bay is outstanding. There's an energetic commentary from the director as well as an array of bios, gallery photos, and a trailer. The widescreen transfer has an aspect ratio of 1.66:1. The colors are well balanced and bright and there is no sign of distortions or flaws. Soldier of Orange is in Dutch with optional English subtitles and has a running time of 156 minutes. Though a long film, it's dramatic enough that it goes by quickly. Check it out! You won't be disappointed.


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You might want to check out these other excellent films from Netherlands:

Antonia’s Line
The Assault
Character
The Vanishing

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age