De Gulle Minnaar is exactly the kind of movie which made a lot of Dutch people at the time say that they didn't like Dutch movies. This is a crude, unfunny picture. And if the story wasn't so ineptly told, this mess would have been also really offensive. The makers (or should I say maker, as I believe that much of the blame is squarely on the shoulders of producer Rob Houwer) tried to put a feminist message into this picture, as the movies are based on two novels of writer Marjan Berk. But their so-called humorist approach to the material turns out very sexist.
The story of De Gulle Minnaar is centered round Peter Heg (played by Peter Faber), who lives in an affluent neighborhood in Amsterdam with his son Tommie. Every morning he brings his son to school and gets hit on by every mother and, because he's a very generous man (no really, that's his excuse!), he sleeps with all of them, including the wife of his best friend (a matter that is laughably resolved along the lines of "Oh, you f*cked my wife... . Okay! Let's laugh about it! Haha!"). But anyway, the supposedly beautiful Mascha Silman (Mariska van Kolck) drops in his life, for reasons that are much to convoluted to explain. Mascha has a cooking radio show, although she can't cook to save her life (another example of this films very sophisticated humor). They fall in love, and Peter secretly stops all his love affairs. But because, again, he's so generous, he screws a couple of his mistresses for the last time. Soon, again in ways much to convoluted to explain, Mascha finds out about Peter's affairs and she leaves him. Of course, Peter misses her and tries to win her back, which...he does! But this doesn't mean the movie has ended. Oh no! there's an even more unbearable act that follows. Mascha has agreed to appear on a live cooking show on television along with two other famous female cooks. Because Mascha can't cook (the running gag again!), Peter decides to help her out. How? Well, he knocks one of the other female cooks out, disguises himself in drag and appears on the show as the famous colleague of Mascha. It all ends with Peter throwing the food ingredients at the TV people, after which Mascha, Peter and his son Tommie run out of the studio laughing about it all.
This movie was supposedly directed by the female Mady Saks. But after the movie came out, she explicitly and repeatedly said that she did the movie as a director-for-hire and that she didn't have any control on the finished product. The movie credits seem to underline her reasons as a credit shows that producer Rob Houwer supervised the editing. This producer has one claim to greatness: he produced five Dutch movies of director Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop, Basic Instinct), including the two masterpieces Turks Fruit (aka Turkish Delight) and Soldaat van Oranje (aka Soldier of Orange). After their collaboration, and Verhoeven's departing to Hollywood, Houwer somehow believed that he was the ultimate creative force behind the movies he did with Verhoeven. And with every movie, his name has constantly overshadowed the director. But these movies have been very mediocre at best (Van Geluk Gesproken, De Kleine Blonde Dood) or downright awful. De Gulle Minnaar belongs to the last section.
The terrible screenplay is on a par with the acting. The supporting cast is terrible, especially Syliva Millecam as Peter's ex-mistress and his nemesis. After the movie she achieved great fame and acclaim for her comedic work on television shows. Her career was cut short because of her tragic death in 2001 of breast cancer. I admired her in a lot of things, but unfortunately not here. Lead actor Peter Faber isn't badly cast and tries his best, but he consistently stumbles. The last thing is also the case with lead actress Mariska van Kolck. At the time, she actually was a well-known TV-presenter in the Netherlands with limited acting experience. Her non-existent performance in De Gulle Minnaar almost killed her career. Hell, she herself has even stated that she hated the movie and her performance. In a recent interview she said that she rushed out of the theater after the premiere and skipped the after party, because she was so embarrassed.
The movie also stinks on the technical department. The dubbing is truly awful. The cinematography is ugly and not indicative of DP Frans Bromet's other work. The same is also true for the musical score by Henny Vrienten.
The only reason that made me watch this movie until the end was that it fascinated me in a perverse way. I kept on looking, and thought to myself that this wretched movie couldn't get any worse. But, of course, it did. The experience was comparable to watching the aftermath of a spectacular disaster.
The story of De Gulle Minnaar is centered round Peter Heg (played by Peter Faber), who lives in an affluent neighborhood in Amsterdam with his son Tommie. Every morning he brings his son to school and gets hit on by every mother and, because he's a very generous man (no really, that's his excuse!), he sleeps with all of them, including the wife of his best friend (a matter that is laughably resolved along the lines of "Oh, you f*cked my wife... . Okay! Let's laugh about it! Haha!"). But anyway, the supposedly beautiful Mascha Silman (Mariska van Kolck) drops in his life, for reasons that are much to convoluted to explain. Mascha has a cooking radio show, although she can't cook to save her life (another example of this films very sophisticated humor). They fall in love, and Peter secretly stops all his love affairs. But because, again, he's so generous, he screws a couple of his mistresses for the last time. Soon, again in ways much to convoluted to explain, Mascha finds out about Peter's affairs and she leaves him. Of course, Peter misses her and tries to win her back, which...he does! But this doesn't mean the movie has ended. Oh no! there's an even more unbearable act that follows. Mascha has agreed to appear on a live cooking show on television along with two other famous female cooks. Because Mascha can't cook (the running gag again!), Peter decides to help her out. How? Well, he knocks one of the other female cooks out, disguises himself in drag and appears on the show as the famous colleague of Mascha. It all ends with Peter throwing the food ingredients at the TV people, after which Mascha, Peter and his son Tommie run out of the studio laughing about it all.
This movie was supposedly directed by the female Mady Saks. But after the movie came out, she explicitly and repeatedly said that she did the movie as a director-for-hire and that she didn't have any control on the finished product. The movie credits seem to underline her reasons as a credit shows that producer Rob Houwer supervised the editing. This producer has one claim to greatness: he produced five Dutch movies of director Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop, Basic Instinct), including the two masterpieces Turks Fruit (aka Turkish Delight) and Soldaat van Oranje (aka Soldier of Orange). After their collaboration, and Verhoeven's departing to Hollywood, Houwer somehow believed that he was the ultimate creative force behind the movies he did with Verhoeven. And with every movie, his name has constantly overshadowed the director. But these movies have been very mediocre at best (Van Geluk Gesproken, De Kleine Blonde Dood) or downright awful. De Gulle Minnaar belongs to the last section.
The terrible screenplay is on a par with the acting. The supporting cast is terrible, especially Syliva Millecam as Peter's ex-mistress and his nemesis. After the movie she achieved great fame and acclaim for her comedic work on television shows. Her career was cut short because of her tragic death in 2001 of breast cancer. I admired her in a lot of things, but unfortunately not here. Lead actor Peter Faber isn't badly cast and tries his best, but he consistently stumbles. The last thing is also the case with lead actress Mariska van Kolck. At the time, she actually was a well-known TV-presenter in the Netherlands with limited acting experience. Her non-existent performance in De Gulle Minnaar almost killed her career. Hell, she herself has even stated that she hated the movie and her performance. In a recent interview she said that she rushed out of the theater after the premiere and skipped the after party, because she was so embarrassed.
The movie also stinks on the technical department. The dubbing is truly awful. The cinematography is ugly and not indicative of DP Frans Bromet's other work. The same is also true for the musical score by Henny Vrienten.
The only reason that made me watch this movie until the end was that it fascinated me in a perverse way. I kept on looking, and thought to myself that this wretched movie couldn't get any worse. But, of course, it did. The experience was comparable to watching the aftermath of a spectacular disaster.