Reviewed by Neil Davey
Stars Thijs Romer, Tara Elders, Cahit Olmez, Jack Wouterse, Johnny de Mol, Caro Lenssen, Marcel Hensema, Gijs Naber
Written by Theo van Gogh & Tomas Ross,
from the novel by Tomas Ross
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £15.99
DVD Region 2 | Runtime 117 minutes
Directed by Theo van Gogh
The 6th May in question is the date in 2002 when right-wing politician Pim Fortuyn was gunned down outside a radio station in Hilversum. Outspoken, openly gay and anti-immigration, he was murdered to stop him targeting 'the weak parts of society to score points' and exploiting Muslims as 'scapegoats' – according to Volkert van der Graaf, the animal rights activist who killed Fortuyn. The irony, of course, is that the director of this film, Theo Van Gogh, was himself stabbed and killed by a Muslim activist two years after Fortuyn''s murder.
The film The Sixth of May is a fictional account of the circumstances of Fortuyn's death, based on a novel by Tomas Ross. It's a convoluted conspiracy tale about photographer Jim de Booy (Romer) who, in the process of taking photos of a Dutch soap star outside the studio, gets pictures of the other people hanging around minutes before Fortuyn's death. Over the next few days, he spots unusual connections between those photos, a body fished out of the water and assorted secret security types. The key to the plot – which also appears to involve shadowy American defence contractors – could be Ayse Him (Elders), an animal rights activist recently released from prison.
It's an interesting attempt to blend fact and fiction: it's just not a terribly succesful one. Part of the problem, for the UK audience of course, is our likely lack of knowledge of the circumstances surrounding Fortuyn's death and Dutch life in general. More of a problem though is Van Gogh's direction, which at best is ITV-Sunday evening serial standard. Murders, chases, secret plots, sinister characters... these things are meant to be exciting. In this instant, they're not. It also doesn't help that Romer appears to be about five years older than Lenssen, the actress playing his 16-year old daughter. Interesting but hardly essential viewing.
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