''The Pointsman'' () is a 1986 Dutch film directed by

Jos Stelling Jos Stelling (born 16 July 1945) is a Dutch film director and screenwriter. Career He made his debut as a film director in 1974 with ''Mariken van Nieumegen'', which was selected for the official Cannes competition in 1975. In 1981 he founded t ...

, starring Jim van der Woude, Stéphane Excoffier and

John Kraaijkamp, Sr. Jan Hendrik (John) Kraaijkamp Sr. (19 April 1925 – 17 July 2011) was a Dutch Golden Calf and Louis d'Or winning actor, comedian and singer. For years, he formed a comedy team with Rijk de Gooyer. One of The Netherlands' most popular comedians, p ...

It tells the story of a French woman who moves in with a Dutch railwayman at a remote railway station. The two are unable to converse, but soon begin a strange game of seduction. The film is based on the novel ''De wisselwachter'' by Jean-Paul Franssens. Kraaijkamp was awarded the

Golden Calf for Best Actor The following is a list of winners of the Golden Calf for best actor/actress at the Nederlands Film Festival. From 2021 onwards the award became a gender-neutral award. Best Actor (1981–2020) * 1981 - Rutger Hauer - All his works * 1982 - Rijk ...

for his performance in the film.

Plot

A French woman gets off a train by mistake at a remote location. She tries to ask the pointsman for help, but the two do not understand each other's languages. She waits for another train to arrive, but it never happens. She eventually moves in with the man at the station. Without being able to speak, the two begin to develop a relationship over the next few months.

Cast

* Jim van der Woude as the pointsman * Stéphane Excoffier as the woman *

as the machinist * Josse De Pauw as the mailman * Ton van Dort as the machinist's assistant

Reception

Critical response

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described the film as "a mixture of strange, inchoate passions and even stranger Dutch humor, and there is little about it to capture the imagination. The characters and their actions are inscrutable, made even more so by the near-total absence of dialogue. The film's empty, mutable vistas (the exteriors were shot in Scotland) look good but evoke very little." ''

Time Out London ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'' wrote: "Taking no account of plausibility, Stelling's exploration of the uses and abuses of power is art house fare, but neither obscure nor elitist. Enthralling performances generate a claustrophobic tension, but there's humour too."

Accolades

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pointsman 1986 drama films 1986 films Dutch drama films 1980s Dutch-language films Films based on Dutch novels Films directed by Jos Stelling Films set in Scotland Films shot in Scotland 1980s French-language films 1986 multilingual films Dutch multilingual films