Crusade in Jeans

It happens a lot these days: a cherished childhood memory being turned into a major motion picture. Still, I had never expected this particular memory to get that treatment.

As a kid, I (like many other Dutch kids) was a big fan of the books of Thea Beckman, and "Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek" (Crusade in Jeans) was definitely one of my favourites.

The story is about a 20th century boy who's uncle invents a time machine (besides that the book isn't very science fiction at all) and gets accidentally stuck in the 13th century, in the middle of a Children's Crusade.

And now, they've turned it into a movie. And not just any movie. This isn't some small Dutch production with the same five actors that are in every other Dutch movie. It's a huge international production, with a mostly non-Dutch cast, and completely in English. It also supposedly features quite a few changes in the plot from the book (which needn't be bad; I recognize that film is a very different medium than books for storytelling, so changes are to be expected).

It opens in the Netherlands next Wednesday, and despite some reservations (I have a hard time believing they could've lived up to my expectations with this one) I do think I'm going to see it. I'm curious to say the least.

Here's a trailer (actors speak English, but the voice over is in Dutch).

If this movie is any good, maybe I should try to convince them to do "Kinderen van moeder aarde" (Children of mother earth) next...

Category: Personal
Posted on 2006-11-11 19:41:39 UTC. Show Comments (1)