European Films

Halina Reijn. Portrait by Fabrizio Maltese for european-films.net, 2007. All rights reserved.

Between the world premiere of the European co-production Zwartboek in competition at Venice and the presentation of the European Shooting Stars at Berlin, Reijn is becoming quite the European herself. She is sympathetic to an idea of European cinema, but is also quick to underline that "When we think about films from Europe, we still tend to group them by country. We talk about French cinema or Belgian cinema". Of course international co-productions help erase the borders between these national cinemas: "Verhoeven’s Zwartboek was such a [co-]production, involving Germany, Belgium and the UK as well as the Netherlands. Zwartboek was also a European story, so of course that helps. Generally, though, I think that the co-production process is way too complicated and producers should really be working together more often".

Seen that she represents the Netherlands for the coming year at the Shooting Stars, how would she describe the Dutch cinema landscape to a foreigner? Says Reijn: "Dutch cinema has a lot of potential, because there are a lot of talented people involved in filmmaking in the Netherlands, but in terms of financing the state of Dutch cinema is just embarrassing, it almost feels like a third world country. If a world-renowned filmmaker like Alex van Warmerdam has to beg for money to make a new film, then there is something fundamentally wrong with the system".

Something that characterises Dutch cinema is that almost all of its highest-grossing titles are aimed at children. The actress is hopeful however that this is about to change: "I think Black Book [which attracted over a million visitors in the Netherlands alone] shows that there is hope for films aimed at adults. Most films that get made are indeed for children or youngsters, and the people subsidising the film projects tend to choose these [when allocating funds] because they have proven in the past to make money, when in theory they should support more experimental fare".

Besides working as an actress on film and TV, Reijn is also an accomplished stage actress, having acted in plays by Wedekind (as Lulu), Chekhov (as Nina in The Seagull), Shakespeare (as Ophelia in Hamlet) and Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler amongst others. Acting on stage and film are of course two different -- but related -- disciplines that call for the use of different acting muscles. Are there roles written for either medium that she would like to explore further in the other? Says Reijn, after a long and pensive pause: "The character I play in Blind is really an interesting one, also because she is so unlike myself, and in a way very theatrical, so that might be an option. As for characters from plays, probably Nina from Checkov’s The Seagull, or perhaps Hedda Gabler".

The latter is in fact not a surprising choice, as Gabler seems to accompany Reijn’s career in several fields, as the Ibsen character was also an important part of the actress's first novel. Explains Reijn: “[Gabler] was part of my novel Prinsesje Nooitgenoeg (lit. Little Princess Neverenough) and I also played her on stage. She is rich and bored, she has everything she desires but doesn’t know what to do with it. Though [the story] is set in another time altogether, I think she is someone with whom many of our generation can identify". As for literary works she’d like to see adapted to the screen:  "Gabler. Again. Or Slaap [lit. Sleep], from a young Belgian girl I can’t remember the name of [Annelies Verbeke, ed.], which is an amazing book. From the US, it would have to be James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces".

The actress’s most eye-catching role for foreign audiences has no doubt been her turn as Ronnie, the second female lead in Paul Verhoeven’s Dutch-language WWII thriller Zwartboek (Black Book). Ronnie is a woman who flirts with the Germans when they are in power and then hails the liberating troops when they enter the country. Reijn describes her character thus: "According to Paul she is an animal with a strong spirit for survival. You could look at her in a very negative way and say she is opportunistic, but I think she is actually a lot more naïve than that, almost a child. As with all the characters in Black Book, the truth is a lot less obvious than the black and white contrasts of winners and losers. She is also the comical character of the piece".

With a reported €17 million budget, Zwartboek became the most expensive Dutch-language film ever made. When asked whether this made any difference on the set, Reijn is ambiguous: "Yes and no. Of course there was more money for a lot of things, but at the same time, for what we were trying to do, Black Book was still a low-budget affair. I also find it highly comical that the Dutch audience and critics have said it is such a commercial product, while Americans tend to find it all really arty-farty".

For 2007, three projects will bring Reijn to the forefront of Dutch cinema. There is her selection as the Dutch Shooting Star of the year and two leading roles in very different projects: the fable Blind, the directorial debut of actress (and former Shooting Star herself) Tamar van den Dop, and Erik de Bruyn’s Nadine, in which she is one of three actresses to take on the business woman of the title. The actress is very excited about the Shooting Stars: "I’ve heard from previous Shooting Stars that the best part is meeting with all the other Stars and I am looking forward to that; the whole thing sounds like a lot of fun in a joint school trip sort of way. Of course I also hope to meet casting directors, agents and directors, but I must say I am pretty sober when it comes to these things. A lot of chance is involved, and of course I am already pretty happy to just be a part of it".

At the time of the interview, Blind had not yet come out and Reijn had just seen a cut. Says the actress: "Blind has turned into a very accessible film, something that I did not at first suspect. It is about the relationship between a shy albino woman and a blind man who suddenly gets his sight back. It was a role that was really interesting because she was so far from my own experience, and the elaborate make-up needed [to turn her into an albino] only added to that".

As for Nadine, which is scheduled for a release in autumn of 2007, Reijn explains: "I play a young and ambitious woman who goes after the boys and who is closer to my own persona. This film is also unusual, because the same role is split between three actresses and because the timelines are all mixed up. Both films were a lot fun to work on and made by really talented and interesting filmmakers".

This interview was originally conducted in Dutch and has been translated into English by the author. 

Related items:

• photo diary: 2007 Shooting Stars in Berlin
• review: Zwartboek (Black Book)
• review: Ik omhels je met duizend armen (A Thousand Kisses)
• review: De passievrucht (A Father's Affair)