Spetters (1980)
Genre: Drama
Duration: 115 minuten
Country:
Netherlands
Directed by: Paul Verhoeven
Stars: Hans van Tongeren, Renée Soutendijk and Rutger Hauer
IMDb score:
6,7 (6.350)
Releasedate: 28 February 1980
This movie is not available on US streaming services.
Spetters plot
"There is no such thing as simple love"
Three friends pursue a career as motocross racers to escape their narrow-minded environment. Their life there consists only of alcohol, drugs and trips to the disco. When the seductive Fientje lands in their town, the lives of the three friends are drastically changed.
Actors and actresses
Rien
Fientje
Eef
Hans
Maya
Gerrit Witkamp
Frans Henkhof
Jaap
Annette
Reviews & comments
N00dles
-
- 637 messages
- 2313 votes
How much more Dutch can a film be? It is full of clumsiness, clumsy, vulgar texts and gratuitous nudity with a high #metoo content. Add some wrong tunes, images of Delft and Rotterdam and the party is complete. And that's what made it entertaining.
I normally never expect much from Dutch drama, and indeed, I couldn't really take it seriously anywhere in Spetters. There is no real character development.
Even though some dramatic and interesting themes emerge, it is never really taken seriously. Rien's rehabilitation is largely out of the picture and we barely see how he and his surroundings deal with it, except for a dramatic outburst and suicide at the end; Eef is in the closet, deals at home with a strict religious father with loose hands and is raped, of course, but that is never really considered traumatizing; Hans' biggest struggle is that he will never be as good as his idol, but in the end that seems to make little difference to who he is. He may end up with golddigger Fientje, but is that a happy ending? The movie seems to suggest it does.
I did laugh my ass off at some of the lyrics and scenes. At the same time, I can't believe how amateurish and clumsy it all seems at times. The sound is sometimes pitiful, making dialogue difficult to understand (thank god for subtitles), the acting is messy and many scenes are there purely for shock value and flat entertainment. Every now and then you see a glimpse of film craftsmanship and creativity, in certain shots and editing, but otherwise Spetters is nothing more than a confirmation of the time-honored image of Dutch film: flat, vulgar, rancid and without any sophistication. And that's why it's so wrong.
3*
Translated from Dutch · View original
xxERWINxx
-
- 1913 messages
- 995 votes
Saw the restored (American) Blu-ray version of this film today!
I managed to get it through Amazon with an extra disc with interviews / commentary by Paul Verhoeven, Rene Soutendijk and the other actors, also an episode of ''ander times'' from 2002 is on the bonus disc + many others extras.
This version is really much better and very good picture and sound.
I think it is a special film that was quite shocking at the time, and which is no longer made in this genre, even now it is still quite shocking, especially some scenes ..
The film never gets really exciting and doesn't expect any action, but just an entertaining film that gets 'worse' as the ending gets.
A wonderful document to have this film on Bluray, hopefully they will also release Turkish Delight, Sweetheart, Mama is angry etc on Bluray..
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