The story of a war refugee who's hiding in Amsterdam.The story of a war refugee who's hiding in Amsterdam.The story of a war refugee who's hiding in Amsterdam.
- Awards
- 1 nomination
Photos
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Featured review
Claustrophobia: SHADOWMAN is thy name - Is dit ´n rat?
The only thing I know about Director Piotr Andrejew is that he was born in Poland. On the strength of SHADOWMAN which, from a swift glance at his filmography, gets the highest rating of his entire output, I doubt I will both to watch any of his other efforts.
For a start, his recreation of a WWII scenario in the Netherlands looks fake: trafficker Jeroen Krabbé drives a vehicle of the mid to late 1950s, clearly not yet in existence in WWII. The police vehicle that snarls in at the end to capture the "rat" in the Mevrou Wisse's attic looks like a Renault from the 1950s, too.
The way Andrejew wastes Tom Hulce's acting talent verges on criminal. Hulce, who - in my opinion - posted the definitive portrayal of Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart in AMADEUS (US 1985) by 1988, when SHADOWMAN came out, was delivering his swansong in the cinema (perhaps he fared better in the theater - I hope so).
In SHADOWMAN, Hulce has his face covered by dirty clothes and he looks filthy for about a third of his presence on screen. How that could prove attractive to a stunning beauty like Monique (played by buxom bomb Manouk van der Meulen), to the point that they engage in wild sex in a rat- and rat poison-filled attic leaves me speechless and raring to go hungry in any attic just to handle a pair of knockers like Manouk's!
Even more surprising, Manouk is contraband man Jeroen Krabbé's wife or lover but the moment she hears about the Jewish refugee in hiding she wants to see him in the attic of Mevrou Wisse, who is opening Krabbé's zipper while poisoning potatoes to serve the "rat" in the attic who, before long, she suspects does not have a tail and sounds too ponderous to rate rat status, but might be human instead. To compound matters, she gets post: her son Hans died in combat.
She predictably calls police to investigate the rumblings in the attic but, after hearing the orgastic goings on there, she probably wants a piece of the action from Hulce too!... Having already taken Krabbé from Manouk, she gets all crabby, rebels and resists when police burst in to collect the Jew in the attic... who is now in (unexplained) possession of a knife plus some wood, and black paint, all of which he chisels away at until he gets a fake black pistol going. I immediately had the premonition that that was a mistake, but what do I know and what does anyone care?
No winners in this movie. Jeroen Krabbé probably steals the show with his unrepetant and even spontaneous opportunism and lack of concern for anything other than making money. The way he places an order for copper and then rejects it shows that he could not give a flying flip for anybody other than Number One. As noted, dishy Manouk has memorable melons and Mevrou Wisse ain't nuttin' to throw away, certainly ready and willing, and with a lovely black Labrador by the name of Vargas who whimpers when he hears noises in the attic but wisely wolfs down a steak when Mevrou Wisse isn't watching and while the going is good, coz the Germans are alreay in th apartment and will probably send Mevrou Wisse to a camp for giving shelter to a Jew.
Substandard cinematography by Wit Dabal, confusing and unbelievable script by Andrejew. 4/10.
For a start, his recreation of a WWII scenario in the Netherlands looks fake: trafficker Jeroen Krabbé drives a vehicle of the mid to late 1950s, clearly not yet in existence in WWII. The police vehicle that snarls in at the end to capture the "rat" in the Mevrou Wisse's attic looks like a Renault from the 1950s, too.
The way Andrejew wastes Tom Hulce's acting talent verges on criminal. Hulce, who - in my opinion - posted the definitive portrayal of Amadeus Wolfgang Mozart in AMADEUS (US 1985) by 1988, when SHADOWMAN came out, was delivering his swansong in the cinema (perhaps he fared better in the theater - I hope so).
In SHADOWMAN, Hulce has his face covered by dirty clothes and he looks filthy for about a third of his presence on screen. How that could prove attractive to a stunning beauty like Monique (played by buxom bomb Manouk van der Meulen), to the point that they engage in wild sex in a rat- and rat poison-filled attic leaves me speechless and raring to go hungry in any attic just to handle a pair of knockers like Manouk's!
Even more surprising, Manouk is contraband man Jeroen Krabbé's wife or lover but the moment she hears about the Jewish refugee in hiding she wants to see him in the attic of Mevrou Wisse, who is opening Krabbé's zipper while poisoning potatoes to serve the "rat" in the attic who, before long, she suspects does not have a tail and sounds too ponderous to rate rat status, but might be human instead. To compound matters, she gets post: her son Hans died in combat.
She predictably calls police to investigate the rumblings in the attic but, after hearing the orgastic goings on there, she probably wants a piece of the action from Hulce too!... Having already taken Krabbé from Manouk, she gets all crabby, rebels and resists when police burst in to collect the Jew in the attic... who is now in (unexplained) possession of a knife plus some wood, and black paint, all of which he chisels away at until he gets a fake black pistol going. I immediately had the premonition that that was a mistake, but what do I know and what does anyone care?
No winners in this movie. Jeroen Krabbé probably steals the show with his unrepetant and even spontaneous opportunism and lack of concern for anything other than making money. The way he places an order for copper and then rejects it shows that he could not give a flying flip for anybody other than Number One. As noted, dishy Manouk has memorable melons and Mevrou Wisse ain't nuttin' to throw away, certainly ready and willing, and with a lovely black Labrador by the name of Vargas who whimpers when he hears noises in the attic but wisely wolfs down a steak when Mevrou Wisse isn't watching and while the going is good, coz the Germans are alreay in th apartment and will probably send Mevrou Wisse to a camp for giving shelter to a Jew.
Substandard cinematography by Wit Dabal, confusing and unbelievable script by Andrejew. 4/10.
helpful•00
- adrianovasconcelos
- Apr 24, 2024
Details
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content