1980 · youth · drama
Spetters
Directed by Paul Verhoeven2h 0m1980
Amateur dirt-bikers Rien and Hans–and their mechanic Eef–each fall in love with Fientje, a young woman who, with her brother Jaap, works a concession stand at the races. Everyone seeks a better life: Fientje wants out of the business and away from Jaap; and Rien and Hans aim to make their marks as pro racers, like their hero, Gerrit Witkamp.
Our read: Spetters (1980) reads as a sombre, breathless, grounded youth · drama entry — measured in intensity, intimate in scope, measured in temperature, nihilistic in outlook.
Sombre, breathless, measured youth / drama, grounded in texture. Nihilistic, intimate, measured.
- sombre
- brisk
- intense
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How Spetters feels to watch.
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What watching it is actually like.
“You want raw, sexually explicit Dutch drama about young bikers whose dreams get crushed.”
Skip it tonight — Skip if frontal nudity, gang rape, or bleak portrayals of failed masculinity will ruin you.
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