Ben Groenier

John Van Laer is the overseer of a vast rubber plantation in the Dutch East Indies. His new wife Renee joins him at the plantation, but the monotony of her existence and unbearable heat soon drive her to distraction. One of Van Laer's workmen takes advantage of the boss' absence to seduce Renee.

Worried about the ‘declining morals’ of 1950s Amsterdam, taxi driver Piet Amstel decides to emigrate to Australia. The government drive to build atomic shelters and the incessant Dutch rain only strengthen his purpose, as Amstel figures sunny Australia would make a positive change for his family. But first he needs to bring his daughter and her criminal boyfriend back on the right path.

“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.