Als twee druppels water (1963)

Director:

Fons Rademakers

Writers:

Willem Frederik Hermans (novel)
Fons Rademakers (writer)

Release Date:

21 February 1963 (Netherlands)

Genre:

Drama | War

Plot:

The fainthearted cigar trader Ducker keeps himself quiet during World War II. That changes when parachutist Dorbeck lands in his backyard...

Plot Keywords:

Resistance | WWII | Based On Novel

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Lex Schoorel	...	Ducker / Dorbeck
Nan Los	...	Marianne
Van Doude	...	Inspector Wierdeman
Guus Verstraete	...	Ebernuss
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ko Arnoldi	...	Doctor
Andrea Domburg	...	Marianne (voice)
Jos Gevers	...	Uncle Frans
Mia Goossen	...	Ria Ducker
Elise Hoomans	...	Duckers mother
Sacco van der Made	...	German officer
Hans Polman	...	Turlings
Piet Römer
Jules Royaards	...	Hubach
Frans van der Lingen	...	Eckener
Ina van der Molen	...	Elly
John Van Eyssen
Luc van Gent	...	Second inspector
Marianne van Waveren	...	Fake Jugendstorm leader
Ineke Verwayen	...	Jugendstorm leader
Siem Vroom	...	Priest

Also Known As:

Donkere Kamer van Damocles, De
Like Two Drops of Water (Europe: English title) (literal title)
The Dark Room of Damocles (USA)
The Spitting Image

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

Netherlands

Language:

Dutch | German

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:12

Company:

Cineurope

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Zomergasten: (#9.5)" (1996)

Ineffective World War II mystery based on "De Donkere Kamer van Damocles" by W. F. Hermans

LIKE TWO DROPS OF WATER (Fons Rademakers - Netherlands 1963).

This film is not very good, but it is interesting for a number of reasons, mainly because of the circumstances surrounding the production. The film was based on two novels, "De Donkere Kamer van Damocles" (1958) and to a lesser extent his earlier "De Tranen der Acacias" (1948), by what is considered one of the most important Dutch writers of the twentieth century, Willem Frederik Hermans, both featuring more or less the same characters. Secondly, the director Fons Rademakers is considered to be the first "real" Dutch director of narrative features. He made a total of eleven films and would win the Oscar for best foreign film in 1984 with THE ASSAULT.

After a reasonably successful release in 1963 with almost 500,000 visitors and competing at the Cannes Film Festival, it was withdrawn from circulation almost immediately by Freddy Heineken, the beer magnate and producer of the film, reportedly because he had an affair with one of the film's stars, Nan Los. When she learned Freddy Heineken would never divorce his wife, she married a race driver instead, and Heineken decided the film would never be shown publicly again. I am not sure what the situation is right now, but till his death, you had to write him in person for a private screening. Dutch broadcasting cooperation the TROS tried to air the film in 1983, but was held back by Freddy Heineken. It was shown once before though, on July 4th 1966 at the NTS, on Dutch television and, most recently, in September 2003.

Fons Rademakers was known for blatantly over-directing his actors and it shows. Under his hand, the already awful dialog becomes painfully static because the actors are not allowed the slightest bit of improvisation. I taped this film from television three years ago and afterwards a documentary about Fons Rademakers was shown. The man is obnoxious, not too bright ('eh, no, not Fellini, before him.' He meant Vittoria De Sica, for whom he worked as an assistant director). Rademakers made eleven films and not a single one of them is worth remembering. THE ASSAULT ("De Aanslag") is his best but just adequate, completely static and - to be honest - plain dull, despite the potentially dynamite story by Harry Mulisch.

"Als Twee Druppels Water" does have some nice cinematography by Raoul Coutard, who also lensed "Au Bout de Soufflé" and many of Godard's other films. I imagine this film will play a lot better with foreign audiences not familiar with the Dutch language, when seeing this in a subtitled version.

Camera Obscura --- 5/10