Stella's oorlog (2009) User Reviews

Stella's own war

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 10 August 2010]

A group of friends from the same regiment in Holland's army are going to serve a tour of duty in the Afghanistan conflict. Stella, has a double worry, her own husband, Jur, and her brother Twan, are among the soldiers in the mission. Stella, a young mother, keeps hoping the men will return alive. Unfortunately, her brother does not make it.

Trying to make sense of her own tragedy, Stella decides to question not only Jur, but the rest of the unit's comrades. She meets with staunch opposition, something that does not sit well with her. Stella begins to notice a big change in Jur's attitude. He is a changed man. At the awarding medal ceremony, Jur decides not to have any part in receiving his recognition,Stella thinks it is odd. Nothing prepares her for what she will have to endure in her search for the truth all the friends are reluctant to disclose.

This Dutch film, shown on cable recently kept our attention for the intense heat the director, Diederick Van Rooijen, gave the picture. Written by Hugo Heinen, the film was a rare find. The creators were trying to present a war story where there are no heroes, only victims. The experience these men had to face in a foreign land, away from their own home, shows a realistic approach about an ugly side of any type of conflict, and the scars it leaves forever in the heart of all the survivors.

Maartje Remmens plays Stella with enormous conviction. Her Stella is a woman who is not afraid of facing the reality, but she realizes everyone is lying to her, and the memory of her own dead brother compels her to find the truth, no matter how, or who's toes she will have to step on in order to find her own peace. The rest of the ensemble Dutch cast is wonderful, as it usually is in films from Holland.

About war in Afghanistan

[eabakkum · 7/10 · 15 September 2010]

The making of the film Stella's war has been triggered by the Dutch participation in the ISAF mission in Afghanistan. It elaborates on the post-traumatic stress syndrome of the returning soldiers. As such the film is probably only interesting to people, who are in some way involved in the military operations of the last decade. On the other hand, in a period where disabled veterans are again a common part of our streetscape, who can remain uninvolved? Considering the size of our country, the Dutch army has yielded a significant effort in the pacification of the troubled province Uruzgan, the homeland of mullah Omar. Among the Dutch people the mission has never been popular. The story is straightforward: Stella's brother, husband and some friends are sent on mission in Uruzgan. Their appearance reminds of the comradeship in the film The Deerhunter: superficial and with bravado.The brother is killed during enemy contact, and the returning bunch has changed into an aggressive and distant stance. For several months Stella tries to get on terms with her bewildered husband, but it is all in vain. In the course of a military ceremony, he snaps, wounds a friend with his pistol and commits suicide. Stella starts asking questions to the remaining veterans, who respond with acts of intimidation. Stella falls into a rage, and by threatening with a pistol forces one of the veterans to reveal the truth. It turns out, that the platoon had been ambushed with an improvised explosive device, which killed one of them. They had pursued an Afghan farmer, and discovered explosive materials in his house. Infuriated they had murdered the complete farmers' family, and in the disorder Stella's husband had shot her brother. End of story. It is a low-budget film, that was recorded in only 18 days. Yet the play is convincing, albeit somewhat too exaggerated for my taste (but then again, I don't have PTSS). The director had a liking of prolonged close-ups, which may indeed be instrumental to the film message. The dialogs give a credible picture of military life, and are consequently somewhat naive. The battle scenes were recorded in Spain, which in many ways looks like Uruzgan. The bewilderment of the veterans seems convincing, since after the decolonization of Indonesia (during which some 6000 soldiers lost their lives) our army had never again participated in bloody military battles. Our society has acquired the firm belief, that conflicts should be solved by means of negotiations. This aspect gives cause for a mild critique: it is hard to imagine our soldiers wildly tracking down a fleeing enemy. I have read some accounts of Uruzgan veterans, which show that enemy contact is avoided whenever it is possible. The soldiers are trained in order to de-escalate and to safeguard a constructive environment. And even then they lose limbs and life. Their culture is devoid of upbeat traits. We are a small country and willing to accept what can not be changed. Perhaps exemplary of the Dutch atmosphere is a scene at the start (the only funny moment in the film): Stella's brother says: "Don't worry. When the Afghans attack, they think: +If Allah wishes I will have a hit+ and start firing at random. We only need to duck!". The narrated behavior would be more fitting to a military strategy of aggression. Anyway, you may find some interest in the film.

Too ambitious, too bad.

[bpschut · 5/10 · 16 June 2010]

Stella's War starts decently enough. Pretty good acting, decent dialogue and what appear to be interesting moral questions on peace-keeping and foreign military involvement.

However, the movie wants way too much and doesn't deliver, especially in the last 30 minutes when the heroine becomes a female Rambo, gun-slinging and what have you.

Stella's War tries to pack war, action, suspense, drama, morality play and even courtroom drama into one movie. Too bad, if the makers had chosen to concentrate on the moral aspects of a "peace mission" and the problem of p.t.s.d. (post-traumatic stress disorder) it would have more than sufficed.

The final action scene (when Stella hangs on Jur's back like a baby monkey) even becomes comical after a while, which obviously disrupts the - in itself pretty far fetched - climax of the movie.

Nice try, try again.

an unusual film about moral dilemma's in war

[wvisser-leusden · 8/10 · 17 May 2009]

"Stella's oorlog" (= Dutch for "Stella's war"), deals with a moral dilemma a soldier can encounter when engaged in war.

Set in the very actuality of a Dutch Army combat group in Afghanistan, this well-made movie gradually works out its theme. When the final credits are shown, the viewer fully understands what happened in 2008 in Afghanistan. And how its moral implications affect the military participants.

"Stella's oorlog" is carried by its female lead Maartje Remmers, a renowned Dutch theater actress. She plays Stella, wife and sister of two soldiers involved.

This film is unusual by its theme, as well as by the honesty the theme is treated. Its plot strongly focuses on revealing the truth.

Stella's oorlog (Stella's war)

[rstySp00n · 1/10 · 12 August 2011]

For me as an Uruzgan veteran this was an insult, the movie was filled with inaccurate uniforms, vehicles, weapons and behavior. It really didn't make any sense, maybe the idea and story weren't that bad and there was potential for a good movie, but this really sucked. If only the producers took the liberty to have themselves informed by real soldiers that have been there the movie could have been more realistic. It really gives a totally wrong image of the war there, even the scenes from Afghanistan weren't filmed in a environment that looked like Uruzgan at all.

Besides that the acting is over the top and main character actor Javier Guzman a arrogant and aggressive drunk isn't even worth playing a Dutch soldier that served in Uruzgan.

great acting, great drama, great suspense

[Nijntjepluis · 9/10 · 28 February 2009]

I went to see this movie because I was curious to know what a Dutch movie would make of the current Dutch military mission in Afghanistan and PTSS. I was not disappointed! In fact, I was pleasantly surprised by both storyline and cinematography, and by the excellent acting skills displayed by most of the cast members. Unlike in many Dutch movies, the dialogues seemed entirely natural. Coupled with the fact that it is not only a great character study but also a riveting thriller, this makes it a definite must-see!

In addition, seeing the story of a group of soldiers home from Afghanistan made me realize how little the general public knows of what goes on there and what it's like to serve/fight in Uruzgan or to have a loved one in that situation. We can only hope as few real-life soldiers as possible suffer from traumas like the ones portrayed in this movie.

Intriguing movie!

[rob-broekhof-1 · 10/10 · 19 January 2013]

The story is set within the context of the NATO mission in Afghanistan/Uruzgan. A couple of guys from a Dutch village who grew up together, are sent there as soldiers. Two of them don't get back and one of them has changed drastically. His wife needs to know why he and his "friends" act so weird. She already knew that their vehicle had hit a bomb, but in the end she finds out that right after the bomb exploded, they got so wired that their following actions totally got out of hand.

At first I wondered about the position of the Army in this story. For example: why didn't they investigate or ... were they part - or maybe even in the lead - of the conspiracy to keep the lid on what happened after the bomb exploded? Later on I found out why this may have been totally irrelevant. It might be because the story could have been in any other setting as well; when something happened that had a gigantic impact on your life, it's always BIG trouble when you are not open to those who truly matter to you, about what happened to you. This is regardless of anybody else or any organization that tries to make you think and act otherwise.

Furthermore & finally: it's best to stay cool in any situation ...