Softwing Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Frances Chung Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

willo-14 Shu-fen's comment has very intelligent observations, i agree entirely and won't try to surpass his enthusiast, excellent review. I am familiar with the beloved Dutch TV series from the late sixties that was behind this film and have enjoyed this remake, true to the spirit of the original as it is, immensely. The speed and inventiveness in this film are incredible, one slapstick-like scene after another, songs and musical-like scenes bursting out everywhere all the time, and yet, very clear cut small miracles of natural acting abound, intimate scenes, close ups, small conversations, never too long... Viewers from abroad will fail to recognize and enjoy the nice local accents of various Dutch towns in the speech of some actors, but that's always something inevitably "lost in translation"... - willem ouwerkerk

sabl My husband's Dutch, but darned if I can speak the language. Still... I came out of the movie a week ago, and I'm still singing "Niet op de stollen staan / Ja zuester, nee zuester; niet met de deur slam / Ja zuster, nee zuster" (sp?). And HE doesn't sing...yet I keep catching him singing the Opa song. I keep thinking of the twisp and giggling.The film is very, very, totally very dutch in wonderful ways. If you like some of the best comic Indian films of the 60's, this has some of the same charm, too. The cinematography and physical comedy is as gently goofy as the story and characters, and the actors are charming. A note to the guy who left after 40 minutes...Boordevol starts out one-note but goes through...changes. Too bad you missed them.

rnekic I'm usually one who can appreciate light-hearted kookiness and I've enjoyed my share of musicals...but this movie is virtually unwatchable. It rapidly declines from a mildly amusing Singing In The Rain-like song and dance number into such over-the-top unfunny vaudevillian absurdity that I had to leave the theater after about 40 minutes. I felt like I was watching an awful high school production.Although he is inexplicably raved about by others here, the character of Boordevol stands out as the most unbearable, by far. This painfully shrill caricature destroys what little charm the film manages to produce; making me wince every time he appeared on the screen.Large portions of the audience around me found endless hilarity in this film but I just didn't get it...at all. It is, simply put, one of the most ridiculous films I've ever seen.

kilsdonk Only two years, at the end of the sixties, Dutch national tv featured the tv-series Ja zuster, Nee zuster. Intended as a children's programme, writer Annie MG Schmidt added so much refinement to the script that adults (parents or not) were equally keen to watch the adventures of the tenants in a nursing home. Following some misplaced economies, most of the series was not kept for future generations. All this added to the myth of Ja zuster, Nee zuster, a myth that was not entirely shared by Annie Schmidt herself. (BTW The brilliant combination with composer Harry Bannink produced a number of songs, that are still being sung today, 35 years later.) On one hand the movie closely resembles the original tv-series. The characters are similar, and with great care the songs have been re-styled and visualised. The story line has been adapted, hence the greater emphasis on some characters. Again, the movie is full of innuendo, which needs not restrain anyone from viewing. Nowhere it is vulgar. The visualization is brilliant, as are the choreographies. The cast is very well composed, and all characters are played in a very natural way. This might be the first movie in all my life I will go and see more than once in the cinema, before acquiring the DVD for home viewing. Needless to say that this movie deserves the highest acclaim and recommendations.