''Michiel de Ruyter'' () is a 2015 Dutch film about the

17th-century The 17th century lasted from January 1, 1601 ( MDCI), to December 31, 1700 ( MDCC). It falls into the early modern period of Europe and in that continent (whose impact on the world was increasing) was characterized by the Baroque cultural movemen ...

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 ...

directed by Roel Reiné. The film had its world premiere in the Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum 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 ...

on 26 January 2015
Meer protest tegen Michiel de Ruyter
, ''

De Telegraaf ''De Telegraaf'' (; en, The Telegraph) is the largest Dutch daily morning newspaper. Haro Kraak,Gaat Paul Jansen de crisis bij De Telegraaf oplossen?, ''de Volkskrant'', 2015. Retrieved 1 August 2015. Paul Jansen has been the editor-in-chief s ...

'', 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, 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
, ''

'', 2014. Retrieved on 27 January 2015. * Frank Lammers as

* Barry Atsma as

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 F ...

* Egbert-Jan Weber as William III * Gene Bervoets 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 Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 (O.S.) / 27 December (N.S.) – 29 November 1682 (O.S.)) was an English army officer, admiral, scientist and colonial governor. He first came to prominence as a Royalist cava ...

* Daniel Brocklebank * 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 * Charles Dance 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 ...

* 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 Lieke van Lexmond (born 6 February 1982) is a Dutch actress and television presenter. She is known for playing the roles of Eva Prins in the television series ''Goudkust'' and the role of Charlie Fischer in the soap opera '' Goede tijden, slecht ...

as Wendela de Witt *

Derek de Lint Dick Hein "Derek" de Lint (; born 17 July 1950) is a Dutch film and television actor, known for playing the role of Derek Rayne in '' Poltergeist: The Legacy''. Life and career Dick Hein de Lint was born on 17 July 1950 in The Hague in the N ...

as Johan Kievit * Victor Löw as De Waerd * Aurélie Meriel * Filip Peeters as

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 theref ...

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

Production

The film was directed by Roel Reiné 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 ...

, the

Wadden Sea The Wadden Sea ( nl, Waddenzee ; german: Wattenmeer; nds, Wattensee or ; da, Vadehavet; fy, Waadsee, longname=yes; frr, di Heef) is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern cont ...

, and the Ridderzaal.
Frank Lammers speelt Michiel de Ruyter in biopic
, ''

'', 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 c ...

, 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 fro ...

with the English princess Mary.

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 Wan ...

, 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 ...

'', 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 The Platinum Film ( nl, Platina Film) is a film award recognising domestic box office achievements in the Netherlands. It is awarded for the first 400,000 visitors of a Dutch film production. In 2003, one of the requirements for the award was ra ...

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