“Ciske de Rat” belongs to the Dickensean “little man’s hard life” model and tells a deceptively simple story about a boy in modern Netherlands. Persecution, loneliness, adults’ hostility, fear, mixture of obstinacy and tenderness, and even an imprisonment. Excellent camera movement and delicate portraying of Ciske’s fragile soul put this film out of merely historical context and ensure its place in the history of great cinema.

A man is blackmailed into taking his brother's place in a gang for a jewellery heist.

A secret document, a stolen dress suit, two dimwitted crooks, the love of a man for a woman. It all results in a roller coaster ride for a young insurance agent.

This government commissioned film -- made on the occasion of the forty year anniversary of queen Wilhelmina's reign -- chronicles the lives of two Dutch families from 1898 to 1938 against the backdrop of the social and political events of the times. It shows the emergence of trade unions, the troubled years of the First World War, the development of aviation and Schiphol airport, the Dutch East Indies and the lives of the Dutch royal family.

When shaving cream seller Lou Helm is spotted by Anita Mara of the Odeon Revue, who thinks he was born to be a music hall star, he eagerly signs a contract and leaves his girlfriend Annie. His star career, however, does not turn out the way he planned...