Doodslag (2012) Reviews

• Without Compromising. Dark, very Relevant, and Very very good

  martijn-154-3123172012-01-16

  It's hard to write a review about such a relevant movie. "Why?" is the question that will enter your mind probably. Well, when you write a review about a relevant movie with themes so important in this time, you want to make sure you don't criticize the theme's but the movie. Theo Maassen, whom is most of all one of the best comedian's the Lower lands has, plays this movie with finesse and touching realness. This is a hard movie. Not only does it depict reality very accurately. this reality is a reality without solutions, it's a reality with hard decisions, choices and dilemmas. Theo Maassen fits perfectly in this harsh dark world. No one else, and i really mean no one else could 've played this role better. no American, no Johnny Depp, No Elijah Wood, no dutch, nor American actor which i know. Now, you might have detected i'm a big fan of Theo Maassen. True. it might not be objective at all. But his acting is so fine, so detailed and filled with doubt I don't believe any other actor could do this. Mainly because Maassen plays this like a person, like a really human being, overwhelmed with reality. Besides the wonderful acting of Maassen, also Gijs van Scholten Aschat plays his role as a comedian (a role which Theo plays in real life) to the point. Almost like it's real. It's a Dutch movie, you can see that. Now don't get me wrong, i'm not a superb film critic, i haven't seen "all" dutch movies nor a lot non American/British but this movie really has a dutch taste. The grimness, the hard themes it depicts and the uneasiness that crawls up under your chair are astonishing. The image is raw. The acting is raw. The story is raw. The decisions made in this movie are raw. So far for style, it deserves a fat 10. Now about this themes. As we know from American movies they can really solve problems right? This movie doesn't solve. It poses questions. Now for that fact it could 've still been some art like fancy documentary. The good thing about this movie is that it doesn't just pose questions it asks questions which have no answer. These questions are a logical event of occurrences and don't ask for an "opinion" they just are. The way the characters deal with them are completely understandable but not predictable. Not at all. No spoilers. The themes are very relevant for our society. The questions are important not for people who work in hospitals or drive ambulances. On one hand it reminds us that all our media, and the ones that use it, should watch their mouth. It reminds us that saying "act normal" is easier said than done. It reminds our street kids to watch out who you bother and our "normal people" that sticky situations are easily created and hard to solve. I actually wanted to write that this is not a movie for "normal people" but that's not what this is about. This is a movie without compromising, a movie without understandable questions, without happy ending, without answers, without solutions, without a shine on reality. Definitely a European movie. Definitely not for the ones who like easygoing happy endings. Ex-Drummer is the only movie i can compare this one with. but this one has a political tone. Starting with the first shot we get: a Quote from our prime minister saying "We need to win our society back from the bad guys". Well, after the first few minutes you already understand that this is not as easy as it sounds. Who are these bad guys? Bad guys apparently all have reasons to be one. These reasons are created by situations. This is a movie showing how bad guys are created. Unintentionally. This is probably one of the best Dutch movies I've ever seen. If you cant' see it in cinemas, buy it. If you can't? Download it. it's to important to not see. Check it out!

• Excellent

  dusan-222012-05-28

  Very intelligent movie with the art film moments. Excellent acting, very good European camera school, good editing. Can't find anything bad about it. Casting was superb and actor who plays Max was just made for this role. Great drama and hard social question about the world we live in with the pretty critical answer suggested. Moral dilemmas in the world without moral are turning against our hero. Then, heroism is relative and changeable in time but money stays the main master. Power of mass control presented by the character of an evil showman looks exactly as the world we live in controlled and operated by mass media. It twists and turns the public opinion when needed and by that controls the moral values by its material needs and not by the need for true. What happens to an honest man as Max in such world is getting lost and then losing himself. Very intelligent portrait of the modern world moral values versus a good man. And one more thing: the movie is definitely not a thriller.

• Excellent drama/thriller that puts the finger on the sore spot

  markvanwasbeek2012-05-29

  'Doodslag' (which translates to Manslaughter) tells us the story of Max, a veteran ambulance-driver who gets driven to mental breakdown. The build up of the story is quite fast, and after some minor incidents showing Max getting disrespected and even made fun of on national television by a famous comedian it eventually leads up to the unintended death of a young street thug. On their way to a emergency delivery Max (and his new colleague (Amira, portrayed by Maryam Hassouni)get stopped by a group of street youth when their friend had a accident and has superficial headinjuries. The tension builds up, and with all the stress Max has to cope with he snaps, hits one of the guys who falls on the curb and dies on the spot. Max is sent to prison for one year, but it doesn't stop there. The friends of the street thug are bound for vengeance, and start threatening and harrasing him. In the mean time the comedian that made fun of him earlier finds himself feeling sorry for his actions, and hires Max as his personal driver. I found this movie to be very intelligent and uncomprimizing. This film shows the degrading of society (emergency personell frequently get harassed in the Netherlands these days) but it does not judge whether Max is a criminal or a hero. The Maassen reprises a strong role (after his first movie: TBS) and I think no other Dutch actor can portray such a dark and gritty character. Maryam Hassouni also portrays an excellent role as Amira and I also see a bright future for her acting career as well. I also find the directing very good, I am only guessing why the 2nd chapter is in black and white. The only reason I can think of is some 'artsy' addition or something. The soundtrack is also very good, and fits the film very well. Overall I would say this is a must see, and another gem of Dutch cinematography. These don't come around very often. 9/10

• Jumps in every direction,but has an interesting feel to it

  Lariekoekje2012-09-10

  After watching this movie, I was left with the feeling I still didn't know what exactly it wanted to say. It touches on so many different subjects and moral dilemmas, but never goes deeper to actually try and give its view on what happens. It goes from ethnic problems in society to the influential power of the media and the moral role of comedians,and more, all in one movie. I believe exploring one or two of these themes in one movie is difficult enough as it is. This is the movie's biggest flaw, in my opinion. But the same criticism can be applied to the characters. Their motivations are all over the place. They change with almost every scene. And after so many changes, you stop believing in them. The actions of some characters simply don't make sense. Why would Max, a man who lives for caring for others and simply snapped at one point, a man who has honest remorse, actively plan to threaten all the people who have made things hard for him? Why would Felix help/exploit him in such a way? Why do we never see the girlfriend again? I know these questions are sort of answered, but in my opinion, it doesn't make that much sense. The story is full, moves at a very quick pace and doesn't seem to know what it wants to get across. You could even say that there is too much story. In the strongest scenes of the movie, the atmosphere speaks for itself and there is no need to explain anything or make things more complicated. In the scene where Max watches in silence what his actions on the fatal night have resulted in, there is no commentary or plot line necessary. It's about life and death and the hard work of an ambulance worker standing in between, shown in a grim but realistic manner. It never exaggerates in the way I thought of lot of scenes did. I found myself asking 'are there really so many people out there who act like this?' The problems and difficult people the ambulance workers are faced with seem so plentiful and over the top that it seems as if everyone is out to get them. The locations and interesting music add loads of atmosphere to this movie, and are, next to the great, intense performances from everyone in the cast, the best part of it. The camera is well used to intensify this. The only thing I did not think was necessary at all, was the temporary shift to black and white. I thought it was more distracting than anything else. Theo Maassen is great in this role. The script makes him play many different aspects of Max as a character (powerless and remorseful at first, angry later and desperate in the end) but he pulls them all off naturally. It's also very interesting from a 'meta' point of view to see an actor playing a comedian make fun of a comedian who is an actor here. The self-referential value of the scenes with Max on stage is remarkable. These points, and the destructive but touching ending makes this movie worth watching, in my opinion.

• Uneven

  billcr122012-05-25

  The word doodslag means manslaughter in Dutch, and it begins with an ambulance responding to a stab victim, and after calming him down and telling him that he will be fine, but as they drive to a hospital, he flatlines. They stop and attempt cpr, but he dies. Max blames himself for the man's death for underestimating the seriousness of the injury. He gets a new partner, Amina, a Moroccan woman, and their first call is for a bad drug reaction at a nightclub where a nasty, racist comic is performing. As they revive the girl the host insults them both, including anti Muslim remarks aimed at Amina. They leave and when watching television, see that they were being taped at the club. The next emergency is for a woman with a difficult childbirth. On route, the two are stopped by Moroccan youth, demanding that they help one of their friends with a head injury. Amina bandages it and tells them that the kid will be fine, but they insist that he be taken to the hospital. Max explains the need to leave quickly for the pregnant woman's emergency. As they argue and one of the boys yells at them, Max punches him in the face, he hits his head on the curb and dies. Max and Amina manage to save the mother and baby but the police arrive and arrest Max. He serves one year in jail for manslaughter and can't get a job when he is released from prison. The vicious comedian who insulted him earlier in the nightclub hires him as a driver and has him join the act onstage, where he manipulates the crowd, depending on Max's responses to questions about the night of the trouble. Max apologizes to the family of the boy he killed, but the harassment continues, including Max's girlfriends house being burned down. He is assaulted and responds by getting a gun for intimidation. He confronts the comic he drives around and the movie just fizzles out at the end. The story and editing are haphazard, with very poor structure, so at best it is a 5/10.