Sonny Boy (2011)
Genre: Drama / Romance
Duration: 132 minuten
Country:
Netherlands
Directed by: Maria Peters
Stars: Ricky Koole, Sergio Hasselbaink and Marcel Hensema
IMDb score:
6,7 (3.484)
Releasedate: 27 January 2011
Sonny Boy plot
"United by love, torn by fate"
In the twenties the young, from Suriname, Waldemar Nods meets the older Rika van der Lans in the Netherlands and they fall in love. The contrasts could hardly be greater: Waldemar black, Rika white, 17 years age difference and, moreover, Rika is already a mother of four children. But they love each other and then… Rika turns out to be pregnant. Rika and Waldemar choose each other despite the high price they have to pay. They have a son, Waldy, their own 'Sonny Boy'. Then the Second World War breaks out and Waldemar and Rika risk their lives to save people in hiding. However, this is not without serious consequences...
Actors and actresses
Rika van der Lans
Waldemar Nods
Willem
Marcel
Wim - 13 jaar
Wim - 19 jaar
Bertha - 15-26 year
Jan - 20 year
Mother Rika
Father RIka
Reviews & comments
Donkerwoud
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- 8363 messages
- 3806 votes
For me 'Sonny Boy' (2011) has a huge gun factor. Because Annejet van der Zijl recorded the impressive love story of Waldemar Nods and Rika van der Lans. Because when this book adaptation was published, Waldy Nods, the living son of the two, was given a well-deserved podium in various media programs. A somewhat shy elderly newspaperman, who visibly enjoyed himself because his traumatic family story was finally heard while he could never find the words for it himself. Or simply because a Surinamese-Dutch perspective was missing in the many war stories that our country is rich in. 'Sonny Boy' (2011) is a neat production, in which a lot of attention has been paid to costumes and set design. The Hague in me enjoys the historical atmospheric images of places that seem so familiar to me, but of which I was hardly aware of what happened. In that sense it is in any case a respectful and thorough adaptation of the original source material.
But across the board, this adaptation suffers from the shortcoming that plagues more book adaptations: it feels more like an episodic summary than one scintillating whole. The narrative lacks a focus so that the entanglements come together satisfactorily. Because the love story between Waldemar Nods (Sergio Hasselbaink) and Rika van der Lans (Ricky Koole) gets stuck at the level of the superficial tagline. 'Bound by love, torn by fate', or a soapy of thick wood one saws planks. It also doesn't help that a seasoned actress like Ricky Koole is a lot better able to capture contradictions and nuances in her acting than Sergio Hasselbaink. As a result, Koole/Hasselbaink miss (what you can call with an ugly Anglicism) 'chemistry'. 'Sonny Boy' (2011) races past emotionally charged war scenes, but lacks refinement to get past the usual clichés.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Black Math
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- 5417 messages
- 1741 votes
Finally seen. A friend of mine featured in the film, also appears very clearly in the picture in camp clothes, while he is Jewish, so that's something to think about. If he had been born seventy-five years premature, he might really have been walking around like this.
In any case, you don't often see a film about black people during the war, who apparently had it easier than Jews. The story manages to intrigue; the main character knows that too, because her character is nice and unruly and sincere. The main character, her partner, also knows how to arouse admiration. Neither of them chose the easiest way. I can well imagine that this must have been a wonderful film for the real Sonny Boy, as his parents were portrayed (which he has also said in interviews).
Visually, the film is mainly decent, so I ended up with 3*.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Fisico (moderator films)
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- 9909 messages
- 5362 votes
Strong Dutch film that actually consists of two major parts. On the one hand you have the period during the Interbellum and then the film takes on the Nazi era. It is by our standards a greatest film in which the lives of Waldemar and Rika receive a lot of attention.
Waldemar, a Surinamese boy, crosses the Atlantic Ocean as a (half) orphan to study. However, discrimination and racism are his share. Rika is married to a bastard rich man and as a woman is stuck in a straitjacket. Assertive and stubborn that she is, she walks her own paths, which regularly encounter opposition and backbiting.
The position of the woman and the blacks come out well and strongly. And wealth enforces certain rights as far as guarding rights are concerned apparently. Later, the film evolves into the resistance during the Second World War. In terms of content a fairly strong film: captivating, intense and compelling. Only I found the acting rather wooden and that was a letdown at times. Ricky Koole was the only one I still found on a level.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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