De Mantel der Liefde

1978 film

Adriaan Ditvoorst
Pieter Goedings

Produced by

Luc Bijkerk
Pieter Goedings

Starring

Willeke van Ammelrooy
Tim Beekman
Marjan Berk

CinematographyMat van HensbergenEdited byAugust VerschuerenMusic byVangelis
(from the album Heaven and Hell)Distributed byLuton Films

Release date

1978 (1978)

Running time

110 minutesCountryNetherlandsLanguageDutchBudgetƒ 450,000

De Mantel der Liefde is a 1978 Dutch satirical anthology film, directed by Adriaan Ditvoorst. It is a black comedy based on the Ten Commandments and mankind's failure to live up to them.^[1]^[2]

Plot

The film starts off with Jesus Christ and Moses, who are sent from Antiquity to the present to see if mankind followed up the Ten Commandments? The film is divided in ten self-contained sketches, named after one of the Commandments each.^[1] Every sketch shows people sinning against the Commandments. Near the end the director and his producer (Hans Boskamp) watch their own film reach its conclusion. The producer feels the movie "sucks" and is "too vulgar", whereupon the director defends it by saying it's actually "art". The producer then replies that "art doesn't sell" and "stupid entertainment is what the public wants."

Cast

Willeke van Ammelrooy: Maria
Tim Beekman: Bakker
Marjan Berk: Annie
Ronnie Bierman: Gerda
Anne Wil Blankers: Anne
Hans Boskamp: Moses / producer
Bertus Botterman: Vader
Adrian Brine: Abortionist
Hans Cornelissen: Jongen
Hans Croiset: Minister
Jules Croiset: Pastor
Rijk de Gooyer: Cor
Wim van der Grijn: Cyclist
Liëla Koguchi: Ms. Split
Mimi Kok: Baker's wife
Joost Prinsen: Jesus / director

References

^ ^a ^b "De Mantel der Liefde - vpro cinema". www.vpro.nl.
^ Verstraten, Peter (29 April 2016). Humour and irony in Dutch post-war fiction film. Amsterdam University Press. ISBN 9789048528370 – via Google Books.