''Alles is Liefde'' ( en, Love Is All) is a 2007 Dutch

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film directed by

Joram Lürsen Joram Lürsen (born 11 August 1963) is a Dutch film and television director, as well as screenwriter and producer. Lürsen was born in Amstelveen. He graduated from the Netherlands Film and Television Academy in Amsterdam in 1990 with his fil ...

, and starring

Carice van Houten Carice Anouk van Houten () is a Dutch actress and singer (born 5 September 1976 in Leiderdorp). Her first leading role in the television film ''Suzy Q'' (1999) won her the Golden Calf for Best Acting in a Television Drama; two years later, s ...

Paul de Leeuw Paul Henri de Leeuw (born 26 March 1962) is a Dutch television comedian, singer and actor. De Leeuw gained national fame in the late eighties and early nineties with television shows for broadcasting company VARA. Though satire was only a part ...

Wendy van Dijk Wendy van Dijk (born 22 January 1971) is a Dutch actress, comedian and television presenter. She is best known for her portrayal of Ushi Hirosaki, a hapless Japanese journalist featured in both a series of Dutch television shows and a theatric ...

, and

Daan Schuurmans Daniël Adrianus Augustinus "Daan" Schuurmans (born 24 January 1972) is a Dutch actor. He is married to Dutch actress Bracha van Doesburgh and they have a daughter named Sophia and twins sons named Kees and Boris. Career Schuurmans began his car ...

Plot

The actor who annually plays

Sinterklaas Sinterklaas () or Sint-Nicolaas () is a legendary figure based on Saint Nicholas, patron saint of children. Other Dutch names for the figure include ''De Sint'' ("The Saint"), ''De Goede Sint'' ("The Good Saint") and ''De Goedheiligman'' ("The ...

dies just before the arrival of the television crew. A mysterious new Sinterklaas named Jan (

Michiel Romeyn Michiel is a Dutch masculine given name equivalent to Michael and a Venetian surname. Given name * Michiel Andrieszoon (died 1684), Dutch pirate * Michiel Bartman (born 1967), Dutch rower * Michiel Borstlap (born 1966), Dutch pianist and compos ...

) replaces him. Shortly after his public appearance, he rescues a child who fell into a canal, but runs away when people realize what happened and begin crowding around. He is found by the production assistant of the television show next day, and agrees to appear in television shows, when he is informed that playing Sinterklaas is a paying job. He becomes quite popular on television because of his alternative style. Klaasje (

) has left her husband Dennis (

Peter Paul Muller Peter Paul Muller (born 30 May 1965) is a Dutch actor and voice actor. In 2017, Muller won the Golden Calf for Best Actor award for his role as South African lawyer Bram Fischer in the film '' Bram Fischer''. Career Television Muller made ...

), because he cheated on her with a young and attractive elementary school teacher (

Chantal Janzen Chantal Janzen (; born 15 February 1979) is a Dutch actress, singer and TV presenter. She had parts in '' The Preacher'', ''Full Moon Party'' and '' Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo'' and presented '' Idols''. She also played Belle in the Dutch mu ...

). Dennis wants her back, but his chances seem to plummet when she has a fling with a 16-year-old boy (Valerio Zeno), whom she meets at her father's funeral (her father was the previous "Sinterklaas" actor). Klaasje's best friend Simone (Anneke Blok), the mother of the girl rescued by Sinterklaas, is the linchpin in her family. Her husband Ted (

Thomas Acda Thomas Acda (born Amsterdam, 6 March 1967) is a Dutch singer, actor and comedian, known as former member of the duo Acda en De Munnik. Acda grew up in De Rijp and after graduating high school at havo level, Acda started the theater school, ...

) often feels redundant. He loses his job, but he is afraid to tell his domineering wife. Swimming instructor Victor (

) looks forward to marrying his love Kees (

), an undertaker. But Kees has doubts and fears about committed life. During the marriage ceremony, he walks away without saying ‘yes’. Victor's sister Kiki (

), a saleswoman at the jewellery section of De Bijenkorf, has always dreamt of a Prince Charming. During the arrival of Sinterklaas, Kiki almost runs into

Crown Prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wi ...

Valentine (Jeroen Spitzenberger), while driving a horse carriage. Kiki is dressed as a campaign gift and the prince takes her in his arms as she tries to get down from the carriage. Prince Valentine falls in love with her. Next morning he visits De Bijenkorf to see Kiki. But Kiki desists from seeing him, and rejects him on the grounds that he will not take her seriously. To still come into contact with her, Prince Valentine dresses as Black Peter, does antics at De Bijenkorf for work. In the evening, he (dressed as Black Pieter) offers to drop her home and ends up having a wild night with her. The next morning, however, he sneaks away through the window without saying goodbye to Kiki. Kiki follows him to his hotel and confronts him. It turns out that Kiki knew all along that Prince Valentine was playing Black Pieter but just wanted to see how far he would go for her. They end up kissing each other. On the night of Sinterklaas Eve, Jan again runs away before his appearance in the show. He is spotted by Ted who recognizes him to be his child's rescuer. Ted invites Jan, dressed as Sinterklaas, to his house for a beer. The neighborhood children gradually flock to his house, as word spreads of Jan's presence. The television crew also eventually comes there. During his TV interview, he speaks candidly about his life and his regrets. He also tells that the name of his son is Kees and that he abandoned his family when his son was three years old. The 5 December Special TV show comes to an end and Sinterklaas is seen walking out onto the snowy street. As he walks and looks around, all the couples are shown one by one to have found out what to do with their lives. Having found his father on the television show, Kees drives with Victor to meet him. They come across him in the middle of the road as they were driving. The movie ends with Jan, dressed as Sinterklaas, embracing Kees.

Background

The story is inspired by the film ''

Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television proje ...

'' (2003). The budget of ''Alles is Liefde'' was

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

4 million.

Cast

as Kiki Jollema *

as Victor Jollema *

as Sinterklaas Jan *

as Klaasje van Ophorst *

as Ted Coelman *

as Kees Tromp *

Lies Visschedijk Lies Visschedijk (born 14 January 1974) is a Dutch actress. She appeared in more than thirty films since 1997. Selected filmography References External links * 1974 births Living people Dutch film actresses Dutch television actres ...

as Alicia *

Anneke Blok Anneke Blok (born 24 December 1959) is a Dutch actress. She won the 2008 Golden Calf for Best Actress award for her performance as Anne in ''Tiramisu Tiramisu ( it, tiramisù , from , "pick me up" or "cheer me up") is a coffee-flavoured It ...

as Simone Coelman *

as Dennis *

as Sarah * Jeroen Spitzenberger as Prince Valentijn *

Marc-Marie Huijbregts Marc-Marie Huijbregts (born 21 December 1964) is a Dutch comedian, actor and television presenter. He is known for his cabaret shows and as co-host of the television show '' De Wereld Draait Door''. He is also known as jury member in the Flemish ...

as Rudolf * Valerio Zeno as Daniël

Box office

''Alles is Liefde'' had a box office take of

9.1 million in 2007. Within two months after its release it received a Golden Film award for , a Platinum Film award for , and a

Diamond Film The Diamond Film ( nl, Diamanten Film) is a film award recognising domestic box office achievements in the Netherlands. The Diamond Film is awarded to films from the Netherlands once they have sold 1,000,000 cinema tickets or more during the ori ...

for , all in the Netherlands. In 2007, it was the most viewed Dutch film in cinemas, and over all the third most viewed film in Dutch cinemas, coming after '' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' and '' Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End''. ''Alles is Liefde'' is the most visited Dutch romantic comedy film ever, and is in the top 20 of most visited Dutch films of all time.

References

External links

* * {{Golden Calf for Best Feature Film 2007 romantic comedy films 2007 films 2000s Dutch-language films Dutch romantic comedy films Sinterklaas films Films shot in Amsterdam Films shot in the Netherlands Films set in Amsterdam Films set in the Netherlands