User Reviews

"Zaman" tells the story of a seasoned middle-aged police inspector running into a variety of problems both of a private and a professional nature. Sadly it is not based on the most compelling or unique screenplay ever written. The ending too leaves a lot to be desired : I won't spoil it for you here, but it smells suspiciously like a case of writer's block or creative disagreement making its way unto the screen. The lack of climax, resolution or denouement will cause many a viewer to feel cheated in some way or another.

However, the acting is quite good. Moreover, "Zaman" is a marvellously atmospheric movie pulsing with movement and life. It is set in one of Belgium's most fascinating cities, to wit the great port city of Antwerp. The Antwerp setting (or rather Antwerp settings, plural) works like a charm, introducing the viewer to a variety of convincing environments and characters. Even if you, dear reader, are unsure where to find Belgium on a map, the movie will make you feel like you're in Antwerp yourself - walking next to the police inspector protagonist, navigating the mean streets and interacting with crooks, smugglers, eccentrics, snouts, ladies of the night.

"Zaman", by the way, pulls no punches when it comes to showing the drawbacks of a career with the police. Our protagonist may not be the nicest of men, but then he has to fight not only crime, but bureaucracy too. For every hour spent in useful work, he needs to spend ten hours typing reports. Moreover, there's the constant risk of his own superiors turning on him as soon as political or economic pressure is applied ; as in a pagan religion, people routinely get sacrificed in order to appease the gods. As a viewer, one rather gets why promising young men choose for a career as a travel agent, Latin teacher or opera singer...

Zaman is probably one of the best Belgian movies ever made. Or maybe the best Belgian movie of the eighties. It's all about corruption at the Antwerp police force (still a very hot topic in Antwerp today) and the movie sometimes looks a little bit old fashioned but that has is charm too. I saw this movie already about 20 times and every year I have my 'Zaman day' and watch it again with as much pleasure as I saw it the first time in the movie theater.

The story itself is really authentic and every policeman in Antwerp will tell you (off the record) that this movie comes extremely close to reality (in the past and unfortunately still today). No pursuits, shootings but the real thing. If you expect a movie in the style of the 'Cops' series then don't watch Zaman. This is the real stuff, the real life of policemen in Antwerp. Their work, their personal problems,their family life and how all these things become mixed up with each other and end up in a raw and painful drama.

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Marc Janssen plays a nice and by times melancholic Zaman. Herbert Flack is great. Flack was in the eighties a rising television and movie actor and has given prove that today after dozens of movies and television appearances we in Belgium also have our Robert De Niro or George Clooney. If this man would live in the USA he probably would belong to the club of 'best payed actors'. The way he plays the part of the young and enthusiastic Frank who still believes that he can change the world is so real that you almost cry at the end. The line where he asks for the real name of Zaman after he has been shot and lies in the hospital (see memorable quotes) has become an almost historical one in Belgian cinema.

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One of my favorite other characters is a guy who's nickname is 'De Roei Deur'. (The Red Door) A character clearly based upon Frans Van Reeth alias Frans De Kleerkast (Frans The Wardrobe) an extremely popular Belgian burglar in the 70's with a big mouth but a heart of gold. (They even made of movie of his life. See : Dief!(1998) here at IMDB)

The Red Door however is a bit unique because his trademark and signature at any of the places he visits to steal something is shitting in the left corner of the room. Out of excitement he claims himself. This character is played so naturally and funny by Dirk Luyten that you almost forget it's a dangerous criminal you don't want to meet in a dark alley. I still live in Antwerp today and I know the bars in town where you can find dozens of types like him.

The only bad remark I have about Zaman is that most of the actors (Janssen more then the others) who play policemen speak so nice and clean stage-style Dutch sometimes in this movie. This while the Antwerp police 'In Real Life' is known in the whole of Belgium for their terrible accent and the way they try to speak clean Dutch but fail over the whole line. This make them the inventors of a kind of language I call 'Administrative Slang Language.' and which is very funny to hear. I am missing this a bit in Zaman sometimes to make it 100% authentic.

But I can recommend this movie if you like to see a movie about how police really works (or has to work) in Belgium and about real policemen who are not immortal super-cops who solve a crime in 90 minutes.

9/10