Love first. Fight later. They began and end with a toast. In between was one hell of a war.

With this fact-based World War II drama and the equally memorable The Fourth Man (1983), Dutch director Paul Verhoeven gained an international following, eventually translating his reputation into Hollywood fame as the director of bloody science fiction spectacles and prurient sex thrillers. Rutger Hauer stars as Erik Lanshof, an aristocratic Dutch student, one of six carefree friends who don't care much for politics. When the Nazis invade Holland, however, the group is drawn inevitably into the conflict. While Alex (Derek de Lint) joins the German army, the suave Gus (Jeroen Krabbe) becomes a resistance leader, eventually escaping with Erik to England, where they become pawns in a much larger underground movement to restore their country's Queen Wilhelmina (Andrea Domburg) to her rightful throne. Based on an autobiographical novel by Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema, Soldaat van Oranje (1978) also features early work by another Dutch master who went on to success as a director of big budget Hollywood films, cinematographer Jan De Bont.


Soldier of Orange (Dutch: Soldaat van Oranje [sɔlˈdaːt fɑn oˈrɑɲə]) is a 1977 Dutch film directed by Paul Verhoeven and produced by Rob Houwer, starring Rutger Hauer and Jeroen Krabbé. The film is set around the German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II, and shows how individual students have different roles in the war. The story is based on the autobiographic book Soldaat van Oranje by Erik Hazelhoff Roelfzema.
The film had a budget of ƒ 5,000,000 (€2,300,000), at the time the most expensive Dutch movie ever. With 1,547,183 viewers, it was the most popular Dutch film of 1977.[1] The film received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film in 1980.[2] The film is considered to be one of the best Dutch films in the 20th century


The film won the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Film in 1979.[4] One year later, in 1980, it received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Foreign Language Film,[2] but the French-Italian film La Cage aux Folles won the award.[5]
In the election for best Dutch film of the twentieth century at the Netherlands Film Festival in 1999 Soldier of Orange reached the second place, right after another Paul Verhoeven film Turkish Delight.[3]
The film was selected as the Dutch entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 50th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee

Release Date: August 19, 1979


Distrib: International Picture Show