De helleveeg (2016) Online

Through the eyes of a young boy we look at Tiny, an intriguing young woman.All men seem to love her - and she seems to love and please every man --- even the ugly and older ones. Tiny is like a hurt little bird. Sometimes she rages, sometimes she is warm and tender for the young boy. The movie shows how she and the boy get older - and how he discovers an awful secret about her. The actors all play very daring - they become older and older during the play. It is all about the hypocrisy in a family in the catholic south of the Netherlands in the fifties and sixties. When at the end the secret about Tiny is revealed, the personages are all very old - their lives have slipped away and nobody ever noticed Tiny's pain. Life is irreversible and Andre van Duren shows this in a moving and impressive way - and transcends the mere movie-anecdote of a hurt and abused girl. This is a worthy successor of the other movies by director Andre van Duren. With again realistic provincial people made of flesh and blood --- who are comical as well as tough and narrow- minded in their smugness. In De Helleveeg you can feel how a whole life slips away - and therefore it was moving and poignant.

This film gives you a clear look at what it wants you to see, then it turns on its heel and creeps up from behind you when you least expect it and ambushes your heartstrings, tearing at and ripping them to shreds, as only the very best can do. I, for one, am duly impressed. There are topics in here I know something about, and I must say they're handled expertly, brought forth slowly, inch by inch, for maximum effect and lasting impact. Any personal memories you'd thought long supressed rise to the top like cream. Any lingering feelings rush forth like a waterfall beating against the rocks. Any remaining bitterness or pain grips you tightly like a swaddled newborn. There's no escaping the message being delivered by writer, actors, and director, et al. And the ending? The ending kicks you right in the gut. Bravo! Well done! This film begs the questions, When are men going to start taking responsibility for what they do to women and girls, and, When will society demand it of them?

I just saw this excellent film from the Netherlands at the EU Film Festival in Ottawa, Canada. It managed to make me curious in the beginning, then it made me laugh, and then it made me cry... The film brings you back to mid 20th century in EU when being a woman wasn't always easy. I thought the story was intriguing and neat and it flowed at a nice pace. Loved how the characters were well developed but not overly, just enough depth. I find sometimes film makers either don't give us enough information or get lost in telling us a bit too much about them. Actors did an awesome job, Hannah Hoekstra (Tiny) was so pleasant to watch! And of course I loved the directors' style, it kept me interested right until the very end, and made me go through all emotional states! What a gem!

In Greek mythology, the furies were earth (chthonic) deities associated with revenge. They were not directly connected to the Olympian gods, but were associated by the tragic poet Aeschylus with the protectors of Athens, the city-state dedicated to the goddess Athena.

In this film, the main character named Tiny serves both functions as protectress and avenger. She is a complex and mysterious figure whose secret is gradually revealed to the audience. The result is an experience that Aristotle described as the combination of pity and terror in experience of catharsis.

The actress playing the role of Tiny had the daunting task of playing her character from age fourteen to 69. It was a tour-de-force performance wherein she truly looked the right age at every stage of the film.

The narrative starts in the 1950s, then moves forward in time. We get to know the avenger Tiny in her mean-spirited and cruel treatment of her family members. But there is a pivotal moment where on one occasion, we go back in time and learn the circumstances of the trauma experienced by Tiny at age fourteen. It is then that we learn that the pattern of Tiny's behavior is that of self-protection.

"De helleveeg" is a riveting film with an incandescent leading performance. The screenplay is filled with irony, such as the line spoken in the hospital in the closing sequence when it is believed that Tiny will die. Her husband, who has never known the truth about his wife, asks young Albert if he would be willing to speak at her funeral and tell a few funny stories. After all, he says, "All that remains of life is a few anecdotes."

Except in this case, there is much more to Tiny's story than anecdotes. Rather, there is a shattering and long repressed experience known only to the chthonic deities buried deep under the high hill of Athens, the Acropolis. The experience has to due with brutal treatment of a young girl for which nature abhors a vacuum. The vacuum is filmed in the cathartic experience of this stunning film.

The film's context should have been dramatic but it was directed as if it was a comedy. The acting was good at times but totally inconsistant while the makeup department didnt do much of a good job either. The ending scene was the movie's strongpoint, dramatic and in touch with reality, while at the same time a total misfit considering the rest of the movie. In my opinion there wasnt any cohesion between the different era's, it was out of context really.