User Reviews

This is one of the most calming movies i've ever seen. It shows the easy live. But projected on our days now, nothing has really changed. It just has become more crowded. Very coincidental is that both my late grandfather and the late grandmother of my then future wife are in the same movie only seconds after each other. We weren't born yet in 1963, so, how great are the odds of that. So i'm not all objective about the movie...;-) but still it is a great movie, which shows us a peak in the past. I like these type of movies, they show you that we don't really change. I hope this was useful to you. Just go buy and see it.

It is more fun if you are Dutch obviously.

As others have pointed out, this documentary provides a 'peek' into the past of the Netherlands. But as with most peeks in the past, they tend to get idealistic and nostalgic. With this documentary that's very easy, because the whole point of the documentary was to provide an optimistic view on Dutch life; something that was pretty necessary in Western Europe in this post-war era when the economic and social effects of World War II could still be felt all around. As a result, this documentary shows you only the beautiful, the innocent, the pleasant side of life. The most nasty thing you get to see here, is a couple fighting in the park. As long as you're aware of this however, it is a beautifully made work of art. This was also one of the first documentaries (at least in the Netherlands, but maybe even globally) which made extensive use of candid cameras. Pretty much the whole film consists of people being filmed without them being aware of it, or at least without their consent. This is also an interesting element of the film because it is a thing that you could never properly repeat nowadays. Bert Haanstra invented the candid camera as a way to show people in a vulnerable and innocent way. Camera's weren't all around in the public sphere; a lot of people didn't even have a TV yet. Nowadays, people are aware that everywhere, anytime, you could be filmed, especially when something unexpected happens out on the street. So if you were to repeat this experiment, you'd probably get quite different results; in all probability people would act much less vulnerable/natural the moment they notice they are being filmed. This was not the case then, so if only for that reason, this film is a unique document of both life and filmography.

I just saw this film/documentary again, after 44 (!) years and, like wine, it has improved with age. This is probably because of the time difference - thing truly were different nearly half a century ago. The Memorial Day (May 4) sequence is touching and brilliantly filmed. Haanstra found some WW II footage and re-shot those locations after 20 years with some nifty editing. The(Dutch) commentary was written and spoken by Simon Carmiggelt, a Dutch word smith par excellence, by Haanstra's invitation. I noticed that Carmiggelt knows when to be quiet and let the images speak for themselves. The English VO is by Peter Ustinov. This film is often 'accompanied' by the ten minute short 'Zoo', Haanstra's observations of humans in the Amsterdam zoo Artis. In many instances he placed the camera inside the cages, giving us a look at humans from the animals' perspective. A pearl!

This documentary from the famous Bert Haanstra (Glas) shows the Netherlands before the free sex drugs and rock and roll. Everthing is still simple, quiet and easy the oversee. But that is the reason why this film is so beautiful.