''Michiel de Ruyter'' () is a 2015 Dutch film about the 17th-century admiral

Michiel de Ruyter Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (; 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) was a Dutch admiral. Widely celebrated and regarded as one of the most skilled admirals in history, De Ruyter is arguably most famous for his achievements with the Dutch N ...

directed by

Roel Reiné Roel Reiné (born 15 July 1970 in Eindhoven) is a Dutch film director. Occasionally he uses the alias John Rebel (''Bear'', ''Wolf Town''). His production company is called Rebel Film. Career Starting off directing television series and films ...

. The film had its world premiere in the

Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum The National Maritime Museum ( nl, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, ) is a maritime museum in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The museum had 419,060 visitors in 2012. It ranked as 11th most visited museum in the Netherlands in 2013. The museum had 300,0 ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

on 26 January 2015
Meer protest tegen Michiel de Ruyter
, '' De Telegraaf'', 2015. Retrieved on 25 January 2015. and has been released in cinemas 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 ...

on 29 January 2015.Tweede trailer Nederlands epos 'Michiel de Ruyter'
, ''Film Totaal'', 2014. Retrieved on 22 January 2015. On the English promotional website, the film has the title ''Admiral''.

Cast

The first choice for the title role was

Yorick van Wageningen Yorick van Wageningen (born 16 April 1964) is a Dutch actor who has performed in Dutch and American films, including ''The Chronicles of Riddick'' and the 2011 remake of ''The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo''. Life and career Van Wageningen was b ...

, but he could not come to a financial agreement with the producers. On 9 May 2014, the full cast was presented to the press.
Volledige cast Michiel de Ruyter bekend
, '' De Telegraaf'', 2014. Retrieved on 27 January 2015. *

Frank Lammers Frank Lammers (born 10 April 1972) is a Dutch television and film actor. In 2006, he won a "Best Actor" Golden Calf for his work in ''Nachtrit ''Nachtrit'' (English ''Night Run'' or ''Night Ride'') is a 2006 Netherlands thriller film about th ...

Barry Atsma Barry Atsma (born 29 December 1972) is a Dutch actor. He became known in the Netherlands through his role in the TV series ''Rozengeur & Wodka Lime'' (2001–2005) and the movie ''The Black Book''. He is a recipient of both a Golden Calf and a ...

Johan de Witt Johan de Witt (; 24 September 1625 – 20 August 1672), ''lord of Zuid- en Noord-Linschoten, Snelrewaard, Hekendorp en IJsselvere'', was a Dutch statesman and a major political figure in the Dutch Republic in the mid-17th century, the ...

* Egbert-Jan Weber as William III *

Gene Bervoets Eugène Joanna Alfons "Gene" Bervoets (born 26 March 1956 in Antwerp) is a Belgian actor. He has performed in more than 60 films since 1979. Selected filmography References External links * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bervoets, Gene 1956 births L ...

as Van Ginneken * Jada Borsato as Neeltje de Ruyter
Lieke van Lexmond 'flink ingesnoerd' voor film Michiel de Ruyter
, ''

Algemeen Dagblad The ''Algemeen Dagblad'' () or ''AD'' () (English: "General Daily Paper") is a Dutch daily newspaper based in Rotterdam, Netherlands. History and profile ''Algemeen Dagblad'' was founded in 1946. The paper is published in tabloid format and ...

'', 2014. Retrieved on 27 January 2015. * Will Bowden as Prince Rupert of the Rhine *

Daniel Brocklebank Daniel Brocklebank (born 21 December 1979) is a British actor, best known for portraying the roles of Ivan Jones in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' (2005–2006), and Billy Mayhew in ITV's other long-running soap ''Coronation Street'' (2014 ...

* Hajo Bruins as

Cornelis Tromp Cornelis Maartenszoon Tromp, ''Count of Sølvesborg'' (3 September 1629 – 29 May 1691) was a Dutch naval officer who served as lieutenant-admiral general in the Dutch Navy, and briefly as a general admiral in the Royal Danish Navy. Tromp ...

Jules Croiset Jules Croiset (born 9 October 1937) is a Dutch actor. He has appeared in more than 40 films and television shows since 1960. He is also known for having staged his own abduction by neo-Nazis in 1987. Selected filmography * ''Help! The Doctor Is ...

Charles Dance Walter Charles Dance (born 10 October 1946) is an English actor. He is known for playing strict, authoritarian characters and villains. His most notable film roles include Sardo Numspa in '' The Golden Child'' (1986), Dr. Jonathan Clemens in '' ...

as Charles II * Lukas Dijkema * Roeland Fernhout as

Cornelis de Witt Cornelis de Witt (; 15 June 1623 – 20 August 1672) was a Dutch politician and naval commendant of the Golden Age. During the First Stadtholderless Period De Witt was an influential member of the Dutch States Party, and was in opposition to th ...

* Tygo Gernandt as Joseph van Ghent *

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

Maarten Tromp Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp (also written as ''Maerten Tromp''; 23 April 1598 – 31 July 1653) was a Dutch army general and admiral in the Dutch navy. Son of a ship's captain, Tromp spent much of his childhood at sea, including being capture ...

* Jelle de Jong * Joost Koning * Youval Kuipers * Isa Lammers * Sanne Langelaar as Anna de Ruyter * Lieke van Lexmond as Wendela de Witt * Derek de Lint as Johan Kievit *

Victor Löw Victor Löw (born 25 August 1962 in Amsterdam; originally ''Victor Löwenstein''), is a Dutch actor. Victor Löw studied at Studio Herman Teirlinck in Antwerp. He played his first small part in The Northerners. After that he played in numerou ...

as De Waerd * Aurélie Meriel *

Filip Peeters Filip Peeters or Philip Peeters (born 2 December 1962) is a Flemish actor. He is well known for his work in the television series ''Salamander'' as Paul Gerardi and ''Zone Stad'' as Didier Francks. He is one of a few Flemish actors who have been ...

Abraham Duquesne Abraham Duquesne, marquis du Bouchet (2 February 1688) was a French naval officer, who also saw service as an admiral in the Swedish navy. He was born in Dieppe, a seaport, in 1610, and was a Huguenot. He was the son of a naval officer and there ...

* Pip Pellens * Bas van Prooijen * Nils Verkooijen * Viv Weatherall

Production

The film was directed by

and produced by Klaas de Jong. It had a budget of 8 million euro. Among the film locations are

Zeeland , nl, Ik worstel en kom boven("I struggle and emerge") , anthem = "Zeeuws volkslied"("Zeelandic Anthem") , image_map = Zeeland in the Netherlands.svg , map_alt = , m ...

Texel Texel (; Texels dialect: ) is a municipality and an island with a population of 13,643 in North Holland, Netherlands. It is the largest and most populated island of the West Frisian Islands in the Wadden Sea. The island is situated north of Den ...

, the Wadden Sea, and the

Ridderzaal The Ridderzaal (; en, Hall of Knights) is the main building of the 13th-century inner square of the former castle of the counts of Holland called Binnenhof (English: Inner Court) at the address Binnenhof 11 in The Hague, Netherlands. It is us ...

.
Frank Lammers speelt Michiel de Ruyter in biopic
, '' De Telegraaf'', 2014. Retrieved on 25 January 2015.

Reception

Pre-release

Prior to its release, several protest groups had accused the film of glorifying the colonial history of the Netherlands although references to colonialism in the film are almost absent. The film makes a minor reference to the

Dutch East India Company The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...

, which contributed highly to the welfare in the 17th century in the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

, and to the trading vessels that were protected by the navy under Michiel de Ruyter. The film's main subjects, apart from Ruyter himself, are the internal politics of the country, including the brutal murder of

and the complicated relationship with England, up to the engagement of the

William III of Orange William III (William Henry; ; 4 November 16508 March 1702), also widely known as William of Orange, was the sovereign Prince of Orange from birth, Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel in the Dutch Republic from ...

with the English princess

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...

Post-release

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of 67% based on six reviews, with an average rating of 6.6/10. In a review for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', Robert Abele writes: "With loving shots of booming, towering ships so dominant, and decades squeezed into what feels like a week of action, there's barely enough time to develop De Ruyter as a character in his own movie, or even successfully explain his war strategies."

Awards

* Golden Film for 100,000 visitors * Platinum Film for 400,000 visitors
Platina film voor Michiel de Ruyter
, ''

Het Parool ''Het Parool'' () is an Amsterdam-based daily newspaper. It was first published on 10 February 1941 as a resistance paper during the German occupation of the Netherlands (1940–1945). In English, its name means ''The Password'' or ''The Motto' ...

'', 2015. Retrieved on 8 May 2015.

References

External links

* * * {{Roel Reiné 2015 biographical drama films 2010s historical drama films 2015 war drama films 2015 films 2010s Dutch-language films Dutch biographical drama films Dutch war drama films Dutch historical drama films Films set in the 1660s Films set in the 1670s Films set in Amsterdam Films set in London Seafaring films based on actual events Films about naval warfare Cultural depictions of Dutch men Cultural depictions of admirals Cultural depictions of William III of England Films set in the Dutch Golden Age Cultural depictions of Charles II of England