Koning van Katoren (2012) Reviews

• Like the book, but then again not like the book

  mvgennip2012-12-25

  I loved the book and I love the movie. It's fun, it's modern, it takes the best parts from the story and it's refreshingly non-Hollywood. It's nice to see what the makers did with the book, they had to leave some of the challenges out but that does not feel like a miss. The country of Katoren has areas that are like Italy, like Austria and even like Arizona (with a Bijlmer like city in it!). The modern touch was fun and fitted well into the story. After all: Katoren is a fantasy country... they could have made it 100 pct animation, but instead it is our world, and then again not. Having read the book, the movie is easy to follow. Maybe this is less when you don't know the book. For me it was interesting to see how the challenges were worked out. The actors were also refreshing, like the mayor of Uikemene and his family. Recommended for everybody who has read the book!

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• A double standard in efficiency

  lossowitz2012-12-27

  In a relatively small country like The Netherlands it is difficult to produce movies that take place in a different time and place than present day Holland. The amount of money needed to recreate the past or suggest a foreign landscape is impossible to recoup with even a highly successful Dutch movie. A solution often found is to take the filming to Eastern Europe, where ancient locations are easily found and labor is cheap. For this movie the production took to Italy, to give the imaginary country of Katoren a late medieval and Mediterranean feel. For the most part this works: the villages and buildings have a certain charm, and sometimes an almost alien atmosphere. Combined with the creation of a bureaucratic dictatorship and outskirts of the country which resemble Austria, a Dutch high tower suburb and an American desert, it is familiar and strange at the same time, exactly the way this parable of a hero who wants to become king of his country by solving five tasks needs to be. The writer of the book on which the film is based wanted to show children the serious problems of society (environmental pollution, religious division) and their possible solutions by abstracting them as well as making them tangible. Together with the acting these are the assets of this movie. However, Italy is also a weak point. The Italian extras, needed to fill the cities and town squares as habitants of Katoren, often don't seem to know in what kind of movie they're in, what they're supposed to do and some, perhaps in a leap of ambition to European stardom, act like they're doing Sophocles. The building posing as the regal palace is covered in green mold. The ministerial chamber is a derelict room with dust on the floor. To keep believing in the script one needs to close one's eyes to these shortcomings, because the reality of filming is seeping through relentlessly. The script is another foible. A Dutch broadcaster co-produced, and sometimes you wonder if you're watching a marathon of television episodes: each task is introduced with a journey, an acquaintance and the slow unfolding of the assignment in the same careful pacing. The solution sometimes is painstakingly easy (the Pantaar suddenly deciding to sacrifice himself), and Stach seems to thrive more on luck than wisdom or even drive to make Katoren a better place. When the apprentice journalist asks him why he wants to be king, he answers: 'To be cheered by the crowds.' An honest answer but not one to expect from a hero. The ending is being stretched to its limits, and when Stach finally becomes the King, by landing in a pile of pillows and a muddle of confused Italian extras, the movie is suddenly over. Two hours feel like almost three, and a greater efficiency in storytelling would have benefited the rhythm of the movie as well as the use of locations and props that now seem to be expensively prepared for unnecessary scenes.

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• Adults: wait for the television release

  maleichan2012-12-03

  Koning van Katoren is made after the award-winning children's book by Dutch author Jan Terlouw. He wrote the book in 1971. The movie tells the story of 17-year-old Stach, who was born the very day the last king of Katoren died. As the king left no heir, after his death the king's cabinet ministers took over the reigns and turned the kingdom into a country that was always waging war on its neighbours and in which singing and fireworks were forbidden. At seventeen, Stach - young, reckless and lacking all respect for authority - goes to the palace and asks what he has to do in order to become king. The ministers decide to set him five impossible tasks. If Stach succeeds, he will become king. Let me start by saying I am not this movie's target audience. Koning van Katoren is a children's movie, not a picture for nostalgic adults who have read the book (repeatedly) in their childhoods. And let me add, secondly, that I understand that screen adaptations most often require changes and cuts in the original story. Having said that, some of these adaptations bother me. First of all, the story is dragged into the 21st century by adding laptop computers, mobile telephones, etc. In some cases, this effort is successful; controlling the wandering churches of Uikumene (one of the five tasks) with navigation software is a good find. In other cases, the effort is too obvious, annoying (when text messages are dancing in balloons across the screen) and just plain incongruous with other aspects of the story - dress, sets - that have a much older feel. It is also too bad that the makers made no effort to blend the 'real' images of modern fighter jets more seamlessly into the picture. Secondly, I really don't understand why girlfriend Kim is turned into a reporter in the movie. I don't see what that adds to the story. Thirdly, using distinct Italian, German, and Almere settings for the various tasks feels disharmonious, as if you are watching different movies. Finally, the dragon of Smook was a disappointment, in that the makers turned it into some kind of futuristic transformers beast. To end with a positive note: the acting is up to scratch, and (four of) the five tasks are a pleasure to watch. I'm sure children will spend an entertaining afternoon in the theatre watching this picture.

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• Too serious, too realistic... too bad

  Joejoesan2013-04-14

  A few years back Ben Sombogaart directed the film version of my favourite kids book Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek (Crusade in Jeans). He did an excellent job by not only following the events in the book but also adding elements that would make the story stronger and more realistic. My hopes for the movie adoption of my second best kids book, Koning van Katoren (King of Katoren) were therefore very high. Too bad the film disappoints on most levels. The story is about 17 year old Stach. He wants to be the new king of Katoren and has to complete five missions in order to do so. Along the way he's followed by a beautiful young journalist, Kim, who turns out of having a hidden agenda. Jan Terlouw's original book is a fantasy story with some of little nods to the political climate of the seventies. Director Ben Sombogaart updated the story with the use of smartphones, Wikipedia, big televisions and that is all fine. His use of landscapes and locations is thrilling: Koning van Katoren looks like it costed 40 million euros. The casting of Mingus Dagelet (Stach) and Abbey Hoes as Kim is well done. It all goes wrong with the storytelling. To break with the (boring?) chronological way of telling the story in the book, director Sombogaart uses short confusing flash forwards and flash backs. The thread of a looming war is illustrated by documentary- like images of war planes, tanks and big war ships that pretty seem out of place in the overall atmosphere of the movie. To make the movie more realistic in some parts of Kartoren other languages are spoken (Italian and German). A European may respect that, but for kids and people who haven't read the book it slows down the action. Ben Sombogaart is one of the most respected filmmakers of the Netherlands. His desire to also tackle kids literature can be applauded, but in this case it works out the wrong way. Perhaps a more fun and less serious tone would have been a better choice. 5/10

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• Loved the book, what is left over of it in the movie?

  virindra2013-04-07

  I read the book 20 years ago. I loved it. I had my doubts to watch the movie. Dutch movies aren't that great in general. This weekend i rented the movie and watched it. It wasn't what I expected it to be. Acting wasn't that great, very immature. This older German woman in Pantaar was the only one who gave a great performance. But her role in the movie was very little. The assignment's in the movie were different than in the book. That was very disappointing. The movie was boring. The end of the movie was great, like it is the strongest aspect of the book. My advice; watch it when it comes on the television.

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