Review of Dutch film, Bride Flight

Foreign movies not only expose us to different cultures, they often make us more cognizant of our distinctly American bias toward everything from sex to marriage, raising children and the importance of religion. A case in point is the newly imported Dutch film, “Bride Flight,” about three war brides who leave The Netherlands after WWII on a KLM flight to New Zealand, where their betrothed partners are awaiting them. During the flight, one of the women falls in love with another passenger, and that’s the foil that drives the entire film.

I brought along my Dutch-American friend, Nina Davis, also an Albany resident, who found far more to laugh at than I did. Maybe I missed some of the in-jokes, but I was surprised at how the multiple love misconnections among the three female protagonists could give rise to so many amusing incidents. The Dutch attitude toward the vicissitudes of life is much more matter-of-fact than ours. Sentimentality is not part of the flatlanders’ emotional vocabulary, and even the magnificent scenery of New Zealand, where the movie takes place, was underplayed, except for the beginning and closing shots.

If this had been a French movie, Nina and I agreed, the plot would have been played out with far more tears and lust  – think violins at full windmill tilt. (There were some graphic sex scenes in this film but somehow they reminded me of those safe sex videos they used to show to high school students.) And were Steven Spielberg to have directed, rather than the supremely competent, direct-by-the-playbook Ben Sombogaart, we could have expected lots more Sturm and Drang, and probably a few Nazi war criminals to boot (although the Nazis were woven into this story as well, but with a soft touch).

All in all, “Bride Flight” is a well-made movie, well worth the cost of the ticket and the two hours that fly by quickly, in part thanks to superb acting, all driving home a sensible, very Dutch, message. I think it will be a hit in Albany.