Camera Obscura FATHER'S AFFAIR (Maarten Treurniet - Netherlands 2003).I was just on my way out to catch ZWARTBOEK, the latest film by Paul Verhoeven, in cinema when my party canceled at the very last moment and at the same time this movie started on television. By pure chance, DE PASSIEVRUCHT features the same two female stars, Carice van Houten en Halina Reijn.After the sudden death of his wife (Carice van Houten) Armin Houderhout (Peter Paul Muller) finds out he was sterile all his life, but he has a 14-year old son. His new girlfriend (Halina Reijn) urges him to let it rest, but he persist and wants to find out who the father of his child is. Based on the novel by Karel Glastra van Loon, the film is constructed as a whodunit, a pleasant diversion from the self-indulgent novel, that works perfectly for the film. Basically well acted, well shot and a very good screenplay by Kees van Beijnum.No cinematic innovations, just well crafted film-making by Treurniet et co. and for current acting in Dutch cinema, this is about as good as it gets. Peter Paul Muller, Carice van Houten, Halina Reijn, Frank Lammers, Jan Decleir, they all give very good performances. Just as I mentioned, I fell into this in the first few minutes when it came on TV, but I kept on watching it and was sucked into the story almost immediately. Fast-paced and humor to spare. One of the highlights: when Armin (Muller) is (practically hiding) in the bathroom smoking a joint to calm his nerves, just as he is about to have sex with two women (Carice van Houten en Halina Reijn) and Carice van Houten tries to persuade him to come out of the bathroom and presses her boobs against the glass door. That's my kind of fun, but don't worry, it's an insightful film. Camera Obscura --- 8/10

Philip Van der Veken Just like Belgium, the Netherlands don't have a very big and famous movie industry, but from time to time they really are capable of making an excellent movie. That's why I taped this movie when it was shown on Dutch national television. I had never heard of it before, but seeing that Jan Decleir - probably Belgium's finest, still living actor - played a role in it and because I'm very interested in all European movies, I didn't hesitate to give this movie a try."De Passievrucht" tells the story of a man who finds out that his son isn't really his son when the doctor tells him that he has been infertile during his entire life. Since his first wife, and the mother of their son, died nine years ago, he can't ask her who did it. But consumed by anger and sadness, he decides to go after the real father himself. As he goes from one possible culprit to another, he forgets that he isn't the only person in the family. His new girlfriend and his 'son' are the victims of his egoistic behavior and when he finally finds out who did this to him, the surprise couldn't be bigger...Except for Jan Decleir and Halina Reijn, I can't think of any other actor in this movie that I've heard of before. They are all a complete mystery to me and I'm sure that I've never seen them play in another movie, but that certainly doesn't mean that they didn't do it well in this one. I really appreciated the performances of Peter Paul Muller, Carice van Houten,... and I'll certainly try to see another one of their movies if I ever get the chance. The same for the director. He too is a complete stranger to me, but with this movie he proves to have talent. That shows for instance in the excellent use of flashbacks. He never uses them too much, but knows perfectly how to switch between the now and the past. What I also liked, next to the good acting, was the original idea behind the story: how many men raise a child that isn't really theirs and how do they react when they find out the truth? That's a subject that I've never found in any Hollywood production, but it's one that is much closer to reality than some people want to believe. Not that I'm surprised to find it in a European instead of an American movie. It just doesn't belong to the perfect image of family happiness that Hollywood wants to portray. Over here, the movie makers dare to step out of that perfect world, just like Maarten Treurniet did with this movie, and I really appreciate that a lot.All in all this is a movie that deserves to be seen by a much larger audience. It may not always be perfect, but overall the story is good, the emotions are realistic and the acting more than just worth a watch. I really liked this movie and that's why I give it at least a 7.5/10

TheOtherFool Make no mistake about it: this is a Dutch movie. So there's a woman stripping naked within the first minute. Now, considering that woman is Carice van Houten there probably won't be many complaints, but still...Van Houten is Monika, the now dead first wife of Armin (an uninspiring Peter Paul Muller) and mother of their child, Bo. After the dead of his wife, Armin moved on and lives together with a good friend of his first wife, Ellen (Halina Reijn). When they just won't get pregnant, it turns out Armin is infertile, and has been his whole life. So who is the father of his son?The rest of the movie is a search for the real father, and a portrait of how Armin and his 'son' try to deal with the news and each other. As said, the acting of Muller is pretty wooden, and that's too bad as the story isn't a complete waste (perhaps except the preposterous ending).But as a whole, it somehow doesn't fit... Things just won't get that interesting and exciting, and the movie kinda drags along. I won't call it a bad movie in any way, just nothing special I suppose... Now, if you're into Van Houten on the other hand...5/10.

elmersmaling De Passievrucht is an adaptation of the debute novel of the relatively young but talented Dutch writer Karel Glastra van Loon. Years ago I read his second novel (Lisa's adem, or 'Lisa's breath'), was fascinated by it, and planned on reading his first. As usual, I never got to it. Fortunately, they recently made a movie out of his book, so last night I went and saw it in the cinema.They did a great job. This movie is about a man who finds out he has been sterile all his life. This has two consequences: first, he and his girlfriend will never be able to have kids of their own, and second, his thirteen years old son can't actually be his son. His wife, who died nine years ago, can't tell him who the real father is anymore. But he must know. So he starts his quest for the painful truth. A number of old friends are interrogated, and his girlfriend suffers the consequences. She's in deep pain about never being able to have children, and meanwhile, all he does is chase his own nightmare.How events eventually unfold will remain a mystery to you, my dear reader, until you watch the movie. Which I highly recommend you to do. It's a great movie about father-son relationships, about love, about sex and passion, about cheating. The movie's got humor, it has tears, it has a lot of anger. And it features the ever-sympathetic actor Frank Lammers!!