Manslaughter (Doodslag) (2012) - Psyhological Thrillers

Manslaughter (Doodslag)

[Total votes: 2   Average: 7.0/10]

Description:

“We want to reclaim society from the bastards”.  Mark Rutte.

Max (Theo Maassen) is an ambulance driver. He and his partner Boris (Micha Hulshof) receive a call that a man injured during the robbery. Because of football match they are not allowed to drive patient to the nearest hospital. On the way to another hospital patient dies. Boris cannot be reconciled with that and decides to leave the job for a while.

Max then gets a new partner, moroccan woman, by the name Amira (Maryam Hassouni). They go through several serious situations from which one was shown on television when they were ridiculed. All these events left a great impression on Max. The next emergency call is regarding difficult childbirth. On the way they were stopped by a group of Moroccan boys, which demanded help for their friend who had a head injury. After a brief overview, Amira concludes that boy is fine and proposes them to take him to the hospital for bandaging. Other guys demands from them to do that, because that’s their job. After explanations and short quarrels, Max hitting a guy in the head to ensure the passage of ambulances.

In the hospital, mother and child survived, while in the next room, a boy who was hit, died. Is it Max a hero or a murderer?

Conclusion:

Doodslag is very good movie that contains many current topics such as ethnic problems in society, impact of media on the opinion of people and moral role of comedians. Opening large number of topics is at the same time and the biggest flaw of this movie because it does not enter under any of them deep enough. Each of these topics is difficult alone by itself and when they find together in one film, then often the film by itself can be confusing.

The main character and person around which all things happen is Theo Maassen. Although the script put him in position of powerless, angry and at the end desperate man, Theo all these roles plays credibly and natural.

Acting and camera are at a good level. The director manages more than good to show us all the great events while the music follows the theme of the film perfectly.

The film starts with a clear message and theme that is important at this time but unfortunately ends up with no concrete answers. Despite some flaws, Doodslag represents a good achievement of Dutch cinema and deserves recommendation.

  • Directing:
    68/100
  • Screenplay:
    65/100
  • Acting:
    66/100
  • Atmosphere:
    72/100
  • Psycho:
    66/100
  • Summary:
    67%