In pre-WWII Holland, the penniless, illegitimate son of a powerful bailiff sets out to become a lawyer as he spends a lifetime struggling to prove his worth to his relentlessly spiteful father.
Acting
Jan Decleir's Dreverhaven: pure volcanic contempt in human form.
Direction
Van Diem squeezes claustrophobia from every Dutch interior.
Cinematography
Shadows so thick you could sue them for emotional damages.
Director
Mike van Diem
Jan Decleir
Dreverhaven
Fedja van Huêt
Katadreuffe
Betty Schuurman
Joba
Tamar van den Dop
Lorna Te George
Victor Löw
De Gankelaar
Hans Kesting
Jan Maan
Lou Landré
Rentenstein
Bernard Droog
Stroomkoning
Frans Vorstman
Inspector de Bree
Fred Goessens
Schuwagt
Jasper Gottlieb
Jacob (6 years old)
Marius Gottlieb
Jacob (6 years old)
Marisa van Eyle
Juffrouw Sibculo
Wim van der Grijn
2e Inspecteur
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Mike van Diem's first feature; it won the Foreign Language Film Oscar and he basically vanished from cinema afterward.
Based on Ferdinand Bordewijk's 1938 novel, a cornerstone of Dutch literary modernism rarely translated because its bleakness resists export.
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