Michiel de Ruyter (film)

Michiel de Ruyter (Dutch pronunciation: [miˈxil ˈrœy̯tər]) is a 2015 Dutch film about the 17th-century admiral Michiel de Ruyter directed by Roel Reiné. The film had its world premiere in the Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum in Amsterdam on 26 January 2015[2] and has been released in cinemas in the Netherlands on 29 January 2015.[3] On the English promotional website, the film has the title Admiral.[4]

Michiel de Ruyter
Dutch film poster
Directed byRoel Reiné
Screenplay byLars Boom
Alex van Galen
Michael Loumeau
Produced byKlaas de Jong
StarringFrank Lammers
Barry Atsma
Egbert-Jan Weber
CinematographyRoel Reiné
Edited byRadu Ion
Music byTrevor Morris
Production
company
Farmhouse Film & TV
Distributed byA-Film Benelux
Release dates
  • 26 January 2015 (2015-01-26) (world premiere)
  • 29 January 2015 (2015-01-29) (Netherlands)
Running time
130 minutes[1]
CountryNetherlands[1]
LanguagesDutch
English
French
Budget€8 million
Box office€5.7 million

Cast edit

 
Director Roel Reiné (center, wearing a hat) with cast and crew members at the film set in 2014

The first choice for the title role was Yorick van Wageningen, but he could not come to a financial agreement with the producers.[5] On 9 May 2014, the full cast was presented to the press.[6]

Production edit

 
Film set of Michiel de Ruyter near Lelystad in the Netherlands with the frigate Shtandart

The film was directed by Roel Reiné and produced by Klaas de Jong.[2] It had a budget of 8 million euro.[10] Among the film locations are Zeeland, Texel, the Wadden Sea, and the Ridderzaal.[5]

Reception edit

Pre-release edit

Prior to its release, several protest groups had accused the film of glorifying the colonial history of the Netherlands[2] although references to colonialism in the film are almost absent. The film makes a minor reference to the Dutch East India Company, which contributed highly to the welfare of a small group of wealthy merchants in the 17th century in the Low Countries, and to the trading vessels that were protected by the navy under Michiel de Ruyter. The film's main subjects, apart from Ruyter himself, are the internal politics of the country and the oligarchy that formed the ruling class at the time,[11] including the brutal murder of Johan de Witt and the complicated relationship with England, up to the engagement of the William III of Orange with the English princess Mary.[12]

Post-release edit

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 67% based on six reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10.[13] In a review for the Los Angeles Times, Robert Abele writes: "With loving shots of booming, towering ships so dominant, and decades squeezed into what feels like a week of action, there's barely enough time to develop De Ruyter as a character in his own movie, or even successfully explain his war strategies."[14]

Awards edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h (in Dutch) Michiel de Ruyter (2015) Archived 2015-02-01 at the Wayback Machine, Film Totaal. Retrieved on 27 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b c (in Dutch) "Meer protest tegen Michiel de Ruyter", De Telegraaf, 2015. Retrieved on 25 January 2015.
  3. ^ a b c d e (in Dutch) Tweede trailer Nederlands epos 'Michiel de Ruyter' Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, Film Totaal, 2014. Retrieved on 22 January 2015.
  4. ^ Admiral. Retrieved on 30 January 2015.
  5. ^ a b (in Dutch) "Frank Lammers speelt Michiel de Ruyter in biopic", De Telegraaf, 2014. Retrieved on 25 January 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i (in Dutch) "Volledige cast Michiel de Ruyter bekend", De Telegraaf, 2014. Retrieved on 27 January 2015.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h (in Dutch) "Lieke van Lexmond 'flink ingesnoerd' voor film Michiel de Ruyter", Algemeen Dagblad, 2014. Retrieved on 27 January 2015.
  8. ^ Will Bowden, IMDB
  9. ^ (in Dutch) Jeroen Wielaert, "'Met De Ruyter trots op Nederland'", NOS, 2015. Retrieved on 27 January 2015.
  10. ^ (in Dutch) Alexander Bakker, "Telegraaf Michiel de Ruyter-race gaat van start!", De Telegraaf, 2015. Retrieved on 25 January 2015.
  11. ^ Trouw about the subject of the film (in Dutch)
  12. ^ RTLnieuws about the ball for the engagement (in Dutch)
  13. ^ "Admiral (Michiel de Ruyter) (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
  14. ^ Abele, Robert (10 March 2016). "'Admiral' makes Netherlands' military history a Hollywood-style spectacle". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 April 2019.
  15. ^ (in Dutch) Gouden Film voor Michiel de Ruyter Archived 2015-02-08 at the Wayback Machine, Nederlands Film Festival, 2015. Retrieved on 8 February 2015.
  16. ^ (in Dutch) "Platina film voor Michiel de Ruyter", Het Parool, 2015. Retrieved on 8 May 2015.

External links edit