85: Soldier of Orange (Soldaat van Oranje – Original Dutch title)

            After viewing Paul Verhoeven’ Turkish Delight (1973; # 88) I was looking forward to his 1977 depiction of WWII era Holland, Soldier of Orange.  Here Verhoeven reunites with Rutger Hauer to tell the story of the war from the perspective of Dutch students who are forced to make difficult decisions during the European conflict.  While the film is a toned down Verhoeven vision it’s certainly not tame by any standards.  What’s ultimately striking about it is that the affection for his characters that the director has here also transcends to the audience, not always a given with the Dutch iconoclast.

Hauer plays Erik Lanshof, aide-de-camp to Holland’s Queen Wilhelmina as her plane touches down on Dutch soil after her exile to Britain during occupation.  The film traces his journey to this lofty position, recounting his humble beginnings at university in the late 1930s.  Verhoeven has a tendency to embarrass his protagonists early in films (perhaps to engender sympathy) and Erik is no exception, being drenched with soup by an upperclassman while forced to sing a fraternity song in front of classmates.  Transcending the incident, he makes fast friends at school, many of whom are indifferent to the war at its outset.

            However, as the conflict continues and Holland is invaded, each of Erik’s friends finds himself in a different position, putting them at odds when they begin to choose sides.  Unlike many of the others, Erik remains somewhat neutral for a time, trying to join the army only after Holland has been requisitioned.  As the occupation continues, his anti-Nazi beliefs swell, eventually leading him into the Dutch resistance movement.  After several failed, and sometimes humorous, attempts to reach England and join the RAF, he finds that his network of friends is already deeper into the underground movement than he could have imagined. When he finally does reach London, he realizes that he may have been used as a pawn of the counter-resistance movement, and that some friends may be compromised. 

At the request of the queen he makes the journey back to Holland, hoping to smuggle out several key resistance leaders under cover of night.  Even the best laid plans can go awry in war and Soldier of Orange acknowledges this fact with a resoundingly frank tone.  Through both misadventures and odd turns of fate (including several encounters with females) Erik survives the war, but is left to lament over lost friends.

            The relationship between Erik and Guus (Jeroen Krabble), his tormenter at university, is often at the center of the film.  Original animosities are quickly dismissed and though Guus disappears and reappears throughout the movie, he is the one constant in the various happenings of Erik’s life.  It is perhaps their sympathy and love for one another that encourages the audience’s love for these characters.

Soldier of Orange isn’t a family film by any means, but it does not contain the relentless gross-out moments that cause many viewers to shy away from Verhoeven’s work.  It is a balanced and historically accurate depiction of the War from a perspective not often touched on in Hollywood filmmaking, and a reward for any viewer looking to explore Dutch Cinema.  Soldier of Orange portrays the realities of life during occupation and the complexities of the choices that coincide with that life.  In a way it is an exploration of Dutch society throughout the conflict, in which each of the primary characters represents his or her own faction.

Language: Dutch (primary)/English

Runtime: 165 Minutes

Available @ Youtube.com*

Grade: 3.5 Hats Off

*Soldier of Orange is well-hidden, but it is on Youtube and can be found if you search creatively.