Als twee druppels water

Summary

War film based on W.F. Hermans’ De donkere kamer van Damocles, in which a young man meets his double.

Writer W.F. Hermans and director Fons Rademakers shared a fascination with people’s behaviour during the Second World War. The story explores the boundaries between good and bad in wartime.

Ducker is a shy shopkeeper who joins the resistance movement on the instigation of Dorbeck, a British parachutist who has been dropped behind enemy lines. Ducker, who closely resembles Dorbeck, turns out to be a fearless fighter. His personality changes, including his attitude towards women. Slowly Ducker and Dorbeck seem to merge into one. Who is Dorbeck anyway? The resistance meanwhile is beginning to have doubts about Ducker’s usefulness and Ducker’s wife, who has taken up with an NSB man (Dutch pro-Nazi political party), betrays her husband. Ducker flees to the south of the country which has already been liberated. He is arrested on suspicion of collaboration with the Germans because all his plans have had disastrous consequences for the resistance movement. Ducker is shot during a desperate attempt to escape.

Fons Rademakers’ screen adaptations of literary classics are among the best ever made in the Netherlands. Als twee druppels water was nominated for the Golden Palm at the Cannes film festival. His adaptation of Harry Mulisch’ novel De aanslag won the Oscar for best foreign language film in 1986 and for Max Havelaar, an indictment against colonial exploitation by Eduard Douwes Dekker, Rademakers was presented with the Bodil Award for best European film and direction.