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Rutger Hauer - Sylvia Kirstel Double Feature: Mysteries/Pastorale 1943
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - America - Cult Epics Review written by and copyright: Eric Cotenas (4th June 2025). |
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The Film
 "Two Dutch classics co-starring Rutger Hauer and Sylvia Kristel at the peak of their career. Painter turned director Paul de Lussanet's romantic psychological drama Mysteries, was based on the world famous novel by the Norwegian nobel prize winner Knut Hamsun and shot by renowned cinematographer Robby Müller, also stars Rita Tushingham and David Rappaport. Submitted for the 1978 Academy Awards -- Best Foreign Film, Wim Verstappen's Pastorale 1943 is a war drama centered on the Dutch resistance during World War II, and features the debut of Renée Soutendijk." In Mysteries, wealthy agronomist Johan Nagel (Blade Runner's Rutger Hauer) arrives in a chilly seaside town and immediately sets about turning it upside down with his odd, even absurd behavior. He calls out authoritarian bullies – among them, the chief constable (Daughters of Darkness' Fons Rademakers) and Dr. Stensersen (Kees Brusse) – befriends the victimized dwarf "Minute" (Time Bandits' David Rappaport) and ostracized Martha (Straight on Till Morning's Rita Tushingham) while seeming to go out of his way to repulse the sudden object of his affection: vicar's daughter Dany Kielland (Lady Chatterley's Lover's Sylvia Kristel) whose rejection has already driven a previous suitor (A Woman Like Eve's Peter Faber) to suicide. Is Johan avenging the dead man by trying to make Dany fall for him or is he destined for the same fate. Based on the novel by Knut Hamsun thought to be a precursor to "stream of consciousness" narratives – indeed, it was a favorite of Charles Bukowski – Mysteries attempts to adapt a novel in which the seeming protagonist remains a mystery. Is he an avenging angel of the dead man or of bourgeois hypocrisy in general a la High Plains Drifter? Does he see Dany as trapped in their ways or as another bully like the ones who torment Minute and – to a subtler degree – Martha? Is he losing his mind – or just given to "overly violent emotions" like those diagnosed by the doctor in the dead man – or is he dying as Minute conjectures and has nothing to lose? He draws attention to himself – watching the attendants of the man's funeral in open view with a spyglass while sitting on the family tomb of Dr. Stenersen's wife – and even labels himself aloud as a "walking contradiction." His known habit of carrying a vial of prussic acid should he decided to commit suicide could be just as much an affectation as young men traveling with rapiers or pistols for dueling). He claims he has not the courage to commit suicide, so might it be that he contrives a triangle with the meek Martha and cruel Dany to give himself a reason as he muses to Minute that it would be "exquisite to be destroyed by her." The incessant narration by Rappaport's Minute feels like a lazy literary device ported to the screen, however, it actually positions Minute as the main character in that he takes decisive action at the end after observing what he believes to be Johan destroyed by Dany. The narrative might not answer any of these questions but it possibly captures the aimlessness of the literary "superfluous man" more so than other works that stress the cultural and social reasons for his alienation (a guest appearance by Le Grande Bouffe's Andréa Ferréol as Johan's ex-lover indicates just how little Johan's "real" identity matters and how much it too may have been styled for her). The sexual content is rather tame for those expecting a teaming up of the stars of Emmanuelle and Turkish Delight, largely confined to a recollection of a dream "performed" by Johan for Dany. The Debut's Marina de Graaf as the hotel maid provides additional bare flesh. Hauer and Kristel have difficult roles in that the characters are not only unlikable but enigmas; indeed, the freedom of interpretation may have been the attraction of the two Dutch stars wanting to venture beyond association with the roles that made them famous. High budget by the standards of Dutch film production of the period, the film exquisitely captures the time period through the use of the Isle of Man to stand in for the novel's Norwegian village, cluttered production design that suggests that ownership of things is the only real distinction between the village's haves and have-nots, gorgeous costumes by Yan Tax (Black Book), and the stunning lighting of Wim Wenders' regular DP Robby Müller (Until the End of the World). Scottish actress Vivien Heilbron – who also appeared in Nouchka Von Brakel's The Cool Lakes of Death – appears briefly, as does singer Liesbeth List.  Pastorle 1943 is set during the Nazi occupation of Holland in the later years of World War II. Tales of the Dutch Resistance keep hopes alive both for those who openly condemn collaborators as well as intellectuals who believe the Dutch must be above Nazi tactics and fight with their minds. Locally, however, the movement consists of four old men – food office manager Mertens (Amsterdamned's Pieter Lutz), piano tuner Eskens (Leen Jongewaard), Hammer (Coen Flink), and Ballegooyen (Fatal Error's Sacco van der Made) – who have just heisted food stamps to feed the resistance as well as put a dent in the business of national socialist grocer Poerstamper (Bernard Droog). Unaware of and unbeknownst to them, schoolteacher Johan Schults (A Question of Silence's Frederik de Groot) – actually "Schultz" but he has renounced his nationalty in protest and because his elder brother (Mysteries' Rutger Hauer) is an up-and-coming SS officer – and intellectual Van Dale (Secrets of War's Bram van der Vlugt) have been arranging shelter for Jews and young Dutch men who do not want to work in Germany. After Van Dale is entrapped by a pretty woman (The Fourth Man's Geert de Jong) and interrogated, Schults helps him go into hiding at a remote farm at the same time that Mertens has also had to go into hiding after being reported by Poerstamper. The situation at the farm is threatened when farmer's daughter Marie (Eve of Destruction's Renée Soutendijk) drops hotheaded Amsteradam refugee Jan (Pim Vosmaer) for Poerstamper's "patriotic" son Kees (Peter Römer). When Marie falls pregnant and Poerstamper – believing the girl to have been impregnated by Jewish refugee Coen (Hein Boele) – arranges for his son to go to the Eastern Front to avoid responsibility, a complex string of events leads to exposure and Schults transforming from protester to avenger. Pastorale 1943 was the first film of director Wim Verstappen (Blue Movie) after the breakup of his Skorpio Films partnership with Pim de la Parra for whom he had previous produced Frank & Eva which had been the screen debut of Sylvia Kristel. Based on the novel by Simon Vestdijk, the film takes a cue from Schults' headmaster's remark that "we can't all be heroes" in choosing not to tell a heroic adventure of the Dutch resistance movement, focusing instead on the complex interplay of patriotism, posturing, self-interest, neuroses – Schults tells a woman who tries to seduce him that he is – psychologically impotent, and the woman who entraps Van Dale is otherwise regarded as a crank rather than an agent by the Nazis – escapism, and bowel trouble (often used for both comic and dramatic purposes in Dutch cinema); a figurate "pastoral" if you will. Tales of the assault squad cutting communication wires and killing Nazis seem as distant from the film's protagonists as they do Schults' colleagues. What we see is clumsiness and disorganization, with Mertens' colleagues distinguishing what they intend to do as punishment rather than Schults' desire for revenge, requiring proof from him of their target's guilt but then waffling about what to do after they have pronounced him guilty. Schults' decisive action is botched and leads to more reckless acts that make the outcome of his Kafka-esque detainment at The Hague for a stretch of the third act all the more absurd in its outcome. When we come to the end freeze frame with the text about the war ending two years later, it seems more to be just a cynical way to wrap up the film rather than suggest that anything Schults or the others have done actually contributed to the end of the war. Eschewing nudity, sex, and gore that were becoming more common in Dutch film, Pastorale 1943 could be seen as the more somber companion piece of Paul Verhoeven's thematically-similar but considerably more popular (domestically and internationally) Soldier of Orange (which featured a starring role for Hauer). Kristel has a small but important role of one of Schults' colleagues shunned by the faculty and students for being seen in the company of a German soldier. An uncredited Maarten Spanjer would have a larger role in Verhoeven's Spetters. 
Video
Unreleased in the United States or the U.K. theatrically despite the film's artistic and erotic pedigree, Mysteries first turned upon VHS in the early eighties in the U.K. uncut and mid-eighties in the US in a version shortened to roughly ninety minutes for pacing, and this version was reissued in an unauthorized edition by Edde Entertainment under the title "Evil Mysteries" with the tagline "Blade Runner Rutger Hauer seduces Emmanuelle Sylvia Kristel". Cult Epics' 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen Blu-ray – previously released in the Sylvia Kristel 1970s Collection limited edition set with this set's co-feature Pastorale 1943, Alain Robbe-Grillet's Playing with Fire and the German coming-of-age film Julia – is a major improvement on the VHS editions and the Eye Film Institute restoration of print material seems less of an issue than the diffusion and natural lighting apart from murky some night scenes  Unreleased in the United States, Pastorale 1943 comes to Cult Epics Blu-ray in a 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.66:1 widescreen transfer derived from an HD master created by Dutch Film preservationists The Eye Film Institute since the negative is apparently lost. The image is generally clean and crisp with some damage remaining that could not be digitally-erased, and some detail can be swallowed up in the darks and highlights given the use of a projection print rather than the negative or an intermediate element. 
Audio
While Rappaport and Tushingham acted in English – and their voices are heard on the English version – Hauer and Kristel were dubbed, so only the Dutch track is included in DTS-HD Master Audio and LPCM 2.0 mono for Mysteries. Hauer's own voice is heard speaking English in his scenes with Ferréol who also speaks only English in her scenes. It is regrettable that the English dub was not included as Rappaport dubbed himself and his narration but not a deal breaker. The optional English subtitles are free of any noticeable errors.  Pastorale 1943 also features Dutch DTS-HD Master Audio and LPCM 2.0 mono tracks are provided, with the lossless option seeming to better manage some high end distortion than the uncompressed track. The English subtitles are free of errors although sometimes awkwardly formatted to contend with some rapid delivery. 
Extras
Mysteries has been afforded two commentary tracks. The first is an audio commentary by film professor Peter Verstraten who discusses the background of director Paul de Lussanet as a painter of erotic subjects that emphasized decay as well as his annoyance with the collaborative nature of film production over his other artistic medium, and his regret in casting Hauer who pursued the role but was reportedly a "tyrant" on set. The second is an audio commentary by Jeremy Richey, author of Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol who discusses how Lussanet developed the adaptation with Kristel and her playwright boyfriend Hugo Claus (father of her son Arthur), Kristel's high hopes for the project and effect on her career of the poor reception of her trio of artier works Mysteries, Walerian Borowczyk's The Streetwalker, and Claude Chabrol's Alice and her turn towards painting later in life. He also discusses the contributions of cinematographer Muller and the recollections of locals in the Isle of Man who worked on the film, and also makes comparisons to Wenders' The Scarlet Letter – an adaptation of the Hawthorne novel shot in Spain – and Heart of Glass, as well as The Cool Lakes of Death. Also included is a vintage interviews with the cast & director piece (6:27) on location with some frank remarks from Kristel about wanting to get away from her Emmanuelle persona, as well as a poster and photo gallery, the film's theatrical trailer (2:33), and trailers for Pastorale 1943 and Julia.  Pastorale 1943 is accompanied by an audio commentary by film professor Peter Verstraten who provides background on the source novel, noting that it was poorly received since it was published just after the war when Dutch audiences wanted to read stirring adventures of the resistance while the cynical take in the film was better received due to the evolution of the Netherlands' particular strain of war films which were few and far between from the forties to the seventies. Verstraten draws parallels between the film and Soldier of Orange, but also provides a case for why Verstappen decided to adapt the novel including a film school teacher who became angered by a classmate who wrote a script about a Jew abused by the farmer hiding him. Verstraten draws from interviews and De Groot's biography to provide a sketch of Verstappen as a director and his methods of eliciting performances from less-experienced actors. The disc also includes a vintage interview with actress Sylvia Kristel and actor Frederik De Groot (7:35) in which the actress reveals that Verstappen cast her not to sell the film abroad but because he thought she had the right look for a traitorous character. De Groot discusses the source novel, Verstappen's direction, and the nature of his character's ignorance about the resistance as a larger entity. There is also another interview with actress Sylvia Kristel (11:02) shot around the period of Goodbye Emmanuelle discussing the Emmaneulle phenomena and how limiting it is in the perception of her as an actress and a person. The disc also includes a poster and photo gallery, a promo trailer (0:40), theatrical trailer (2:02), and trailers for Mysteries and Julia. 
Packaging
The discs are housed in a standard keep case with a reversible cover featuring artwork for each film on either side with their respective synopses and list of extras while the slipcover features the double feature artwork and information on both films.
Overall
While the other two films in Cult Epic's limited Kristel collection got individual releases, the Rutger Hauer - Sylvia Kristel Double Feature features one film with both of them in the lead roles and another in which they have pivotal roles but much less screen time.
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