Soldier of Orange
Love first. Fight later
Country
Production
Budget
$5 000 000
Box office
$0
Director
Actors
Rutger Hauer, Jeroen Krabbé, Lex van Delden, Derek de Lint, Huib Rooymans, Dolf de Vries, Eddy Habbema, Belinda Meuldijk, Peter Faber, Rijk de Gooyer
All actors and roles (10)
All actors and roles (10)
Scenario
Producer
Camera operator
Composer
Rogier van Otterloo
Artist
Roland de Groot
Audition
Editing
Short description
The lives of Erik Lanshof and five of his closest friends take different paths when the German army invades the Netherlands in 1940: fight and resistance, fear and resignation, collaboration and high treason.
What's left behind the scenes
- The television version has a runtime of 215 minutes.
- The explosions in the film were not handled by civilian specialists, but by soldiers of the Dutch army. According to director and screenwriter Paul Verhoeven, one of the explosions nearly killed Rutger Hauer, who played the lead role.
- Reik de Gooyer, who played Brightner, was in the Resistance during World War II and therefore felt a certain animosity towards Reinhardt Kollhoff (who played the Wehrmacht general). This animosity went so far that, before filming a joint scene, Reik de Gooyer fired a gas pistol right next to Kollhoff.
- Producer Rob Houwer re-edited the film for foreign markets, doing so without the knowledge of director Paul Verhoeven. According to Verhoeven, this re-edited version with a different title ("Survival Run") was almost an hour shorter. It contained only action scenes without explanations or historical context, and was dubbed by British actors. Houwer even claimed he preferred his version to the original director's cut. If his version had gained distribution, Verhoeven’s hopes for international recognition would likely have ended, but producer, director, actor and screenwriter Dan Ireland intervened. He had already seen the original version and was so impressed that he showed it to Steven Spielberg. This is why American distributors demanded the original version of the film, not Houwer's re-edit, and soon nominated it for a Golden Globe Award (presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association). Verhoeven remains grateful to Ireland to this day, rightly believing that he owes his success in the US to him.
- At the beginning of the film, Queen Wilhelmina (played by Andrea Domburg) arrives in the Netherlands with adjutant Erik Lanshof (Rutger Hauer) after liberation at the end of World War II. In this episode, specially filmed footage is combined with authentic newsreel footage shot by American and Dutch cameramen. The footage shows Wilhelmina with an adjutant named Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema (the author of the 1971 novel that served as the literary source for the screenplay). To add authenticity to the modern footage supplementing the newsreel, the filmmakers enlisted the services of a man who voiced Danish newsreels in the post-war period, so his voice is heard on screen in the film.
- The entire film was shot on location, with the exception of a short scene in a Royal Air Force bomber.
- While playing Wilhelmina, Andrea Domburg held cotton balls in her cheeks, just as Marlon Brando did in the role of Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's crime drama 'The Godfather' (1972).
- At the time, it was the most expensive Dutch film to be made. Considering the scale of the project and the limited budget, the time directly allocated to filming was limited. Often, a shooting day lasted 18 hours. It is claimed that some scenes were shot for 36 hours straight.
- A more accurate translation of the title is "The Queen's Soldier".
- The explosions in the film were handled not by civilian specialists, but by members of the Dutch army. According to director and screenwriter Paul Verhoeven, one of the explosions nearly killed the lead actor, Rutger Hauer.
- Reik de Goyer, who played Breitner, had been part of the Resistance during World War II and therefore felt a certain antipathy toward Reinhard Kolldhoff (who played a Wehrmacht general). This animosity reached a point where, once, before filming a scene together, Reik de Goyer fired a gas pistol right next to Kolldhoff.
- Producer Rob Houver re-edited the film for foreign markets, doing so without the knowledge of director Paul Verhoeven. According to Verhoeven, this re-edited version, released under a different title ("Survival Run"), was nearly an hour shorter. It contained only the action scenes, stripped of explanations and historical context, and was dubbed by British actors. Houver even claimed that he preferred his version to the original director's cut. Had his version been the one distributed, Verhoeven's hopes for international recognition would likely have ended; however, producer, director, actor, and screenwriter Dan Ireland intervened. Having seen the original version, he was so impressed that he showed it to Steven Spielberg. For this reason, American distributors requested the original film rather than Houver's re-edited version, and it was soon nominated for a Golden Globe (awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association). To this day, Verhoeven remains grateful to Ireland, believing that he owes his success in the US to him.
- The beginning of the film shows the arrival of Queen Wilhelmina (played by Andrea Domburg) and her adjutant Erik Lanshoff (Rutger Hauer) in the Netherlands following the liberation at the end of World War II. In this episode, specially filmed footage is merged with authentic newsreel footage captured by American and Dutch cameramen. The newsreel shows Wilhelmina with an adjutant named Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema (the author of the 1971 novel that served as the literary source for the screenplay). To add authenticity to the modern footage supplementing the newsreel, the filmmakers employed the man who had voiced Danish newsreels in the post-war period, so his voice is heard on screen in the film.
- Playing Wilhelmina, Andrea Domburg kept cotton balls in her cheeks, much like Marlon Brando did in the role of Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's crime drama 'The Godfather' (1972).
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