Each country or nation has its own books for and about boys. The Americans have Tom Sawyer, the Dutch have Merijntje Gijsen, and the Flamish have De Witte (The White One). In previous reviews on IMDb I already described "Merijntje Gijsens jeugdjaren", in fact even two times, for the 1936 and 1975 film releases. They are nice portrayals of the daily lives of our (grand)parents, and a part of the cultural heritage. So you will not be surprised that I also watched De Witte (1934). He is a young boy, the son of a farmer, who lives in the countryside. Why does this story deserve your attention? Well, as one eye said to the other: between you and me there is something that smells. We witness his adventures in the village school, with his playfellows, and his monkey-tricks, often aimed at adults. On such occasions he makes havoc, and in many cases the damage is indeed intended. He is never afraid, although of course he tries to avoid punishments. As such his character is undoubtedly a tempting role model for young kids. On the other hand, he is a bit self-centered and insensible. I have some difficulty in sympathizing with his audacious ventures, where he does not seem to care much about its effects on other people. He complains that his swim-suit is not waterproof. He prays for candy, but he finally realizes that the Lord does not work that way. So he steals the candy and asks the Lord to forgive him. He asks his mother to marry the candyman. Even his imaginary friends don't want to play with him. I am just making fun, but you get the picture. There is also a little love affair of his teacher, and it must be admitted, that De Witte helps to unite the two lovebirds. By the way, if Dolly Parton married Salvador Dali, she'd be Dolly Dali. In contrast with the Merijntje Gijsen saga, this one does not contain any dramatic events about life and death. The story remains lighthearted - although lively enough to confront the viewer with several moral questions. For instance, the problem of the Flamish identity (which suffered under the French domination) is addressed, albeit in a moderate way. The scenery is picturesque, and the quality of the (black-and-white) images and sound are satisfying. So why wait? My version does not contains English subtitles. Don't hesitate to leave a comment. I love it.
3 Reviews
Nostalgic feelings
guy-paenen14 October 2005
As an other comment indicates, "De Witte" is a book that every young boy used to read in the days of the 60ties & 70ties, though i doubt it that many teenagers nowadays still know it. I read the book (or some favorite chapters) over and over again and every time it brought some laughter and joy in my day. The first time i saw the film, it was a big disappointment, as it could not match by far the images that were stored in my mind as a child. i later understood that it was of course a personal interpretation of the book and that making a film in Belgium in 1934 was not an easy thing. Seeing the film again is pure nostalgic, but the book was far better !
DE WITTE (DIDIER BECU)
Didier-Becu2 November 2003
"De witte" is one of the most famous books of Belgium and every kid has read it even if it are just adventures from some kid who like to do everything what is forbid. Well, in 2003 kids have Harry Potter but back then it was "De witte". No surprises though that this book used to be the subject of what would be one of the first Belgian movies ever. The movie might have its historical worth, it's a real pain to watch in 2003 without falling asleep as this was just the lame excuse of Jan Vanderheyden to make a full motion picture which must have been something of a phenomen back then. What you see are touristic filmshoots of what Flanders was back then and a very thin story. You could accuse me of saying that I should respect this kind of historical filmshooting but knowing that back then there were already geniuses like Eisenstein around it just makes me laugh. Plus it's the kind of movie that can't hold the attention simply because it's completely dated (it's ridiculous to see how powerful the Church was back then or it was kind of stupid to see farmers singing songs about how noble it was to work, certainly as you know that it was more a struggle to survive). But no hard feelings against director Vanderheyden as he had the great job to entertain the Flemish people and I'm totally aware that he did a brilliant job back then, but now 80 years later it's just a nice curiosa, but absolutely nothing more.
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