On S List of Movie Reviews

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Soldaat van Oranje (1977)

Rate: 8
Viewed: 5/25

5/25: Every country involved with WWII has at least one film sharing a perspective about it, and for Holland (it prefers to be called the Netherlands now), it's Soldaat van Oranje aka Soldier of Orange.

A lot of people tend to think Rutger Hauer started in the early 80's because of Nighthawks and Blade Runner, but he was doing a lot of work throughout the 70's in his native country. The result is Turks fruit and Soldaat van Oranje that were voted among the best Dutch pictures made according to the Netherlands Film Festival at the end of the century.

It's a good story about spies, counterspies, and traitors among three countries: Holland, Germany, and England. I didn't realize from the beginning that it focused on a group of acquaintances until the end when Erik Lanshof looked at the picture of everybody with only two survivors left. However, there's not enough emotional impact on me from that moment; I felt it was an interesting adventure for everybody under unfortunate circumstances. The real guy himself (Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema) lived to 90, passing away in 2007.

Without doubt, Rutger Hauer turns in one of the best performances of his career, becoming a major international star. I always thought of Jeroen Krabbé as a bad actor but didn't realize he actually did this kind of pictures just like his counterpart. Either way, it's a fine job. A funny scene occurs when Jeroen Krabbé's character asked if cyanide came in different flavors ("Orange or lemon?"), causing Edward Fox to laugh, "Most amusing." Susan Penhaligon deserves a special mention as the secretary. The rest of the cast passes muster to fit the period.

All in all, if Soldaat van Oranje isn't among top five films of Rutger Hauer's oeuvre, then the list is a fraud.

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