Land van Lubbers

In this overview of Ruud Lubbers' career as state secretary (undersecretary) and prime minister, we are offered an excellent performance by Guy Clemens, who portraits the protagonist at a young age. Even their voices are very much alike. Most other historic characters, however, give any viewer who already know them a reason to cringe at the absolutely horrible acting performances.

Like in most biographies, Lubbers is often shown as the smartest and often only reasonable voice in political situations. Yet in this miniseries this is achieved more by ridiculing his counter parts rather than elevating Lubbers himself. The viewer is not granded the usual arsenal of memorable quotes and high level discussions.

Comparing this to film biographies like Gandhi (1982) or Lincoln (2011) does not put this miniseries in a good light, but perhaps that too high a bar a Dutch production. Yet I cannot help but think that a little more effort from the actors and the script writer could have elevated this production to a much higher level.

Given the fact that the director has admitted he had a free hand in filling the gaps of historic knowledge with his own fantasy, one is disadvised to take details and encounters as historic facts. Nonetheless, the miniseries does seem to give an accurate general impression of Lubbers, his challenges, both professional as well as in marriage, and his notorious casanova behaviour.