''Costa!'' is a 2001

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

romantic comedy

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

directed by

soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

producer

Johan Nijenhuis Johan Nijenhuis (born 4 March 1968) is a Dutch film producer, director and screenwriter. Career After the success of his film ''Costa!'', He founded the production company Nijenhuis & de Levita Film and TV with producer Alain de Levita. it was ...

. It was the first movie that used several famous Dutch soap stars. Other movies that used soap actors, were '' Volle maan'' and ''

Honeyz The Honeyz are a British Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group currently composed of members Célena Cherry, Heavenli Abdi and Cherry's sister, Candace Cherry, as a touring member. The group had five UK top 10 hits between 1998 and 2000, with "Final ...

''. The television series with the same title was based on the movie. It had the same cast members (with several expansions).

Plot

Janet is a lonely girl who is forced to go on holidays with her sister Angela and her arrogant friends, Maureen and Joyce. When they arrive in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, Angela and her friends take off to the beach while Janet has to carry all the luggage to their apartment. That night, Angela, Joyce and Maureen decide to go out and end up in the popular

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

''Costa''. Janet is left home alone, but doesn't agree and goes to Costa as well. Afterwards, Rens walks Janet home, while singing some songs and doing some new dances. Rens soon finds out that Frida is unable to dance for a couple more weeks and she cannot join them during the MTV Dancing Awards. Rens takes a risk by asking Janet to dance with the group, despite the protest of the other dancers, Tommy and Björn. Janet agrees and she and Rens are practicing a lot in the following days. That night, a parade is all over the streets of

Salou Salou () is a municipality of the ''comarca'' of Tarragonès, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The city is approximately 10 km from Tarragona and Reus on the Costa Daurada and 112 km from Barcelona. Founded by the Gre ...

. While watching the parade, Janet spots the car of Costa's rival nightclub, ''The Empire'' where Rens now works. She, Angela, Joyce and Maureen visit The Empire, and realize the club is different from Costa—the dancers work with snakes and the women wear

dominatrix A dominatrix ( ; or dominatrices ), or domme, is a woman who takes the dominant role in BDSM activities. The BDSM practice is called female dominance, or femdom. A dominatrix can be of any sexual orientation, but this does not necessarily l ...

-style outfits. Maureen eventually gets drunk by the end of the night. The girls lose sight of her and don't see her going to the back with one of the dancers. When Rens arrives, he sees Maureen lying on a table about to be raped by the dancer. Rens punches him. Maureen gets away safely while Rens is beaten up by the rest of the Empire dancers. Meanwhile, Rens heads back to the streets of Salou, where he finds Tommy, Björn and Bart, Frida's younger brother. The four reunite and steal a car from The Empire dancers. The four head to the Empire building. When they arrive there, they get into a fight with the dancers of the Empire. The Costa's win eventually, leaving the Empires knocked out behind. Tommy, Björn and Bart go back to Costa, leaving Rens behind, who doesn't know what he has to do now. The dancers of Costa still have to perform for the MTV Dancing Award, but they don't have a convincing dance, causing the audience to yell at them. Janet arrives at the club, asking if she can join them. Rens arrives as well and the two meet at the back, where they are happy to see each other.

Cast

Georgina Verbaan Georgina Carolina Verbaan (born 9 October 1979) is a Dutch actress and singer. Verbaan is best known for her recurring role in soap opera '' Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden''. She has also appeared in various Dutch films, including '' Costa!'', '' ...

as Janet *

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 ca ...

as Rens *

Katja Schuurman Katja Schuurman (born 19 February 1975) is a Dutch actress, singer and television personality. Early life Schuurman grew up as the eldest daughter of a Dutch people, Dutch father and a Curaçao-born Surinamese mother of mixed Dutch, Chinese, In ...

as Frida * Kurt Rogiers as Tommy * John Wijdenbosch as Björn *

Michiel Huisman Michiel Huisman (born 18 July 1981) is a Dutch actor, musician and singer-songwriter born in Amstelveen, recognized for his roles in Dutch and international film and television projects. Huisman's music career began as the singer and guitarist ...

as Bart * Peggy Jane de Schepper as Angela * Anniek Pheifer as Maureen *

Nadja Hüpscher Nadja Hüpscher (born 23 March 1972) is a Dutch actress and writer, known for Based on the Novel (1999), Dennis P. (2007) and Levenslied (2011). Early life Nadja Hüpscher was born on 23 March 1972 in Nijmegen, Gelderland, Netherlands. Hüpsc ...

as Joyce *

Patty Brard Petula Louise "Patty" Brard (born March 25, 1955) is a Dutch singer, television personality, actress and entrepreneur, most notable for being a former member of the girl group Luv'. For five decades, she has often hit the headlines of the tabloid ...

as Mother of Janet and Angela

Production

The film was produced by

San Fu Maltha San Fu Maltha (born 17 July 1958) is a Dutch film producer and film distributor. He founded the production company Fu Works and he co-founded film distributor A-Film. Biography San Fu Maltha was born on 17 July 1958 in Rotterdam in the Netherl ...

and Solo Films, co-owned by

Joop van den Ende Johannes "Joop" Adrianus van den Ende (born 23 February 1942) is a Dutch theatrical producer, co-founder of international television production company Endemol and founder/owner of Stage Entertainment, Europe's largest live entertainment comp ...

, co-founder of

Endemol Endemol B.V. (stylized in all lowercase) was a Dutch-based media company that produced and distributed multiplatform entertainment content. The company annually produced more than 15,000 hours of programming across scripted and non-scripted gen ...

. It was a co-production with Dutch broadcaster, BNN. It was one of the first Dutch romantic comedy films aimed at 12 to 20 year-olds. The producers asked people to help them choose the cast via a website, and it became the largest group of well-known Dutch stars in a Dutch film. Both the film and the later TV show were located in

in Spain with filming also in nightclubs in Holland and Belgium.

Release

In addition to the film, a top-selling book and CD, "Costa! Latin & Danceparty" accompanied the release.

Reception

The film knocked ''

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

'' off the top of the Dutch box office with a gross of 1.3 million

guilders Guilder is the English translation of the Dutch and German ''gulden'', originally shortened from Middle High German ''guldin pfenninc'' (" gold penny"). This was the term that became current in the southern and western parts of the Holy Rom ...

($520,000). In its first 3 weeks it grossed $1.9 million, making it one of the top 10 highest-grossing Dutch films of all time.

References

External links

* * {{Johan Nijenhuis 2001 films Dutch romantic comedy films 2000s Dutch-language films Films set in the Netherlands Films shot in Antwerp Films directed by Johan Nijenhuis Films set in Catalonia Films scored by Martijn Schimmer A-Film Distribution films