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
