Het Woeden der Gehele Wereld (film)
| Het Woeden der Gehele Wereld | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Guido Pieters |
| Produced by | Rob Houwer |
| Written by |
Maarten 't Hart Rob Houwer |
| Starring | Maarten Heijmans |
| Music by | Bas van Otterloo |
| Edited by | Ton Ruys |
| Distributed by | United International Pictures |
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Release date
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13 March 2006 |
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Running time
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118 min |
| Language | Dutch |
Het Woeden der Gehele Wereld is a 2006 Dutch film, based on the novel of the same name by Maarten 't Hart. It was directed by Guido Pieters and produced by Rob Houwer. The title translates as "The fury/rage/raging of the whole world" and is derived from a song with lyrics by René-François Sully-Prudhomme, set to music by Gabriel Fauré.
The film is set in Maassluis and Leiden, in the time of the German occupation (see The Netherlands in World War II) in the 1940s, and in the 1950s. It is about the coming of age of Alex Goudveyl (Maarten Heijmans), and about a murder.
For profit, in May 1940 Joost Vroom (Cees Geel) takes refugees (mainly Jews) on his boat to escape to England. However, the boat is attacked by the Germans. They survive, but the escape fails and the boat and the money is lost.
The Goudveyl couple has a business of second-hand goods, and profits from the persecution of Jews by cheaply buying goods of Jews who have to flee the country.
Vroom becomes police officer, first under the German occupation. He betrays Jews for profit, to recover his loss on the boat. After the war he remains police officer.
Alex loves playing piano, and is very talented. Very inconsiderately his father sells the family's piano when he is offered a good price for it, much to Alex's regret. Sometimes Alex can play piano or organ elsewhere.
Vroom is ephebophile and, for example, pays Alex for simulating masturbation with an eel between his legs substituting for his penis, so that Vroom can film it (in the book Vroom pays for seeing and touching boys' penises; the film's variation may have been chosen to allow visualisation, while keeping it decent). Alex has a gay friend William Keenids, who sometimes likes to cross-dress. We see a scene where William is in Vroom's home, with the little film of Alex being projected on a screen, and William willingly starting to undress while Vroom is filming. It is not revealed whether this is for money. In another scene, William tries to have some physical intimacy with Alex, but Alex rejects it, arguing that he is not Vroom.
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