''Business Is Business'' (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

title: ''Wat zien ik!?'') is a 1971

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

. The film is directed by

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch director, producer and screenwriter, active in the Netherlands, France and the United States. His blending of graphic violence and sexual content with social satire is a trademark of both his dram ...

and stars

Ronnie Bierman Ronny Greetje Bierman (12 July 1938 – 3 February 1984) was a Dutch film and television actress. Bierman is known for her role in ''Diary of a Hooker'' (1971). Ronny Bierman was born in Amsterdam on 12 July 1938. She died in Amsterdam on 3 F ...

, Sylvia de Leur,

Piet Römer Petrus "Piet" Römer (2 April 1928 – 17 January 2012) was a Dutch television, film and stage actor. Filmography Television series *'' Stiefbeen en Zoon'' (1963–1964) – Dirk Stiefbeen / Zoon stiefbeen *t Schaep Met De 5 Pooten'' (1969� ...

, and

Jules Hamel Jules is the French form of the Latin "Julius" (e.g. Jules César, the French name for Julius Caesar). It is the given name of: People with the name *Jules Aarons (1921–2008), American space physicist and photographer *Jules Abadie (1876–195 ...

. The story is about the lives of two

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

s in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

and is based on two books written by

Albert Mol Albert Mol (3 January 1917 – 9 March 2004) was a Dutch author, actor and television personality. Life and career Mol was born in Amsterdam, and was one of the first openly gay actors in the Netherlands. He married Lucy Bor in 1948. The co ...

Plot

The film is about the customers and personal lives of Greet (

) and Nel ( Sylvia de Leur), two

female Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gamet ...

s in

. Greet and Nel are friends and live on different floors of the same

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow un ...

house at the

Prinsengracht The Prinsengracht is a -long canal that runs parallel to the Keizersgracht in the center of Amsterdam. The canal, named after the Prince of Orange, is the fourth of the four main canals belonging to the canal belt. History Construction started ...

. In this house they also receive customers.

Sexual fantasies

Greet roleplays the customers'

sexual fantasies A sexual fantasy or erotic fantasy is a mental image or pattern of thought that stirs a person's sexuality and can create or enhance sexual arousal. A sexual fantasy can be created by the person's imagination or memory, and may be triggered aut ...

. These incidents are recounted in the form of

anecdote An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous ...

s throughout the film. The roleplaying involves Greet being a wicked witch, a

schoolteacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. wh ...

, a feathered

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

, a

corpse A cadaver or corpse is a dead human body that is used by medical students, physicians and other scientists to study anatomy, identify disease sites, determine causes of death, and provide tissue to repair a defect in a living human being. Stu ...

, a woman commanding her

cleaner A cleaner or a cleaning operative is a type of industrial or domestic worker who cleans homes or commercial premises for payment. Cleaning operatives may specialise in cleaning particular things or places, such as window cleaners. Cleaning ope ...

, and a

surgeon In modern medicine, a surgeon is a medical professional who performs surgery. Although there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon usually is also a licensed physician or received the same medical training as ...

. Sometimes Nel assists her by playing a part in the roleplaying.

Nel and Sjaak

Nel lives with Sjaak (

), a guy who likes fishing and who lives on Nel's money. Nel and Sjaak are continuously fighting. Greet convinces Nel to respond to a

personal ad A personal advertisement, sometimes called a contact ad, is a form of classified advertising in which a person seeks to find another person for friendship, romance, marriage, or sexual activity. In British English, it is commonly known as an adve ...

. The following blind date in a restaurant ends up in throwing cakes. Nel wants to clean her dress and then she meets Bob (

Bernhard Droog Bernhard Droog (5 January 1921 in Cologne, Germany – 22 December 2009 in Ede, Netherlands) was a Dutch actor who appeared in 17 films, including the 1997 Academy Award-winning '' Character'', and numerous television and theatre roles. Droog ...

) and they fall in love. In another fight Sjaak almost kills Nel with a knife, and Nel decides to move in with Bob in

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes custom clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Nota ...

Greet and Piet

Greet meets a married man, Piet (

), in the bar where she hangs out. He takes her to a

striptease club A strip club is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease or other Erotic dancing, erotic or exotic dances. Strip clubs typically adopt a nightclub or Bar (establishment), bar style, and can also ...

, and afterward they have sex at her house. Unlike the other men, he doesn't have to pay. Piet brings Greet a bouquet of red

rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

s. The next time they meet, they create a romantic atmosphere and he stays overnight with her. Later, he takes her to a classical concert. She dislikes it and makes a scene in the

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention centres that may ...

. When Piet finds out his wife is pregnant he stops seeing Greet. At the end of the film they meet again, and Greet says he should name his child "Greet" if it is a girl. The film ends when Greet makes the customer that plays the cleaner clean up Nel's marriage party.

Cast

as Blonde Greet * Sylvia de Leur as Neeltje "Nel" Muller *

as Piet *

as Sjaak *

as Bob de Vries *

as Mr. Van Schaveren, Nel's date

Production

''Business Is Business'' was director

's first feature film.Insert of the 2005

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

release by

RTL Nederland RTL Nederland is a Dutch media network, a subsidiary of the RTL Group. The media company is located in Hilversum, although the licences of its TV stations are issued in Luxembourg. History The history of the network dates back to 1989 when dut ...

Gerard Soeteman Gerard Soeteman (born 1 July 1936 in Rotterdam) is a Dutch screenwriter. He worked together with Paul Verhoeven on several films, such as ''Turkish Delight'' and '' Black Book''. He also wrote the screenplay for '' The Assault'', which won the Ac ...

wrote the film scenario, which was his first feature film script. He based the story on the two books ''Wat zien ik!?'' and ''Haar van Boven'' written by

. Mol also has a small role in the film as Mr. Van Schaveren. The opening scene is shot at

Schiphol Airport Amsterdam Airport Schiphol , known informally as Schiphol Airport ( nl, Luchthaven Schiphol, ), is the main international airport of the Netherlands. It is located southwest of Amsterdam, in the municipality of Haarlemmermeer in the province ...

. Many scenes in the film are shot in the city of Amsterdam, most in the canal house, in the

red-light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are particu ...

, and at the

Reception

The film had 2,358,946 admissions in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and was one of the most popular Dutch films in 1971 and one of the most popular films of all time, surpassing ''

Gone With the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

'' and ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. Se ...

'', and returning the distributor $1.3 million.

References

External links

* * {{Paul Verhoeven 1971 films Dutch comedy films Films based on multiple works 1970s Dutch-language films Films based on Dutch novels Films directed by Paul Verhoeven Films produced by Rob Houwer 1971 comedy films Films about prostitution in the Netherlands 1971 directorial debut films