Dutch writer-director-producer Wim Verstappen best known for
Blue Movie and Frank & Eva who grew up in Curaçao, much like
David Cronenberg’s affinity for cars, had a deep-seated passion for airplanes
and longed for years to make a film about a daredevil aviator. Conceived initially as the last film made for
Scorpion Films and producer Pim de la Parra, it proved to be a hugely troubled production
resulting in disagreements with the producer and conflicts arising between
actress Monique van de Ven and the film’s then-cinematographer Jan De Bont
(director of Speed and Twister) who favored the actress’ wishes
over the director’s.
Production ground
to a halt for about a month before De Bont was ultimately fired and replaced
with Wayne’s World cinematographer Theo van de Sande and most of what
ultimately ended up onscreen was reshot from scratch. With additional money spent on salvaging what
was left of the film following Jan De Bont and Van de Ven’s exit from
production, the film which dissolved the director’s working relationship with
his longtime producer underperformed at the box office initially but was later
reappraised as an unheralded gem of Dutch cinema as well as both the producer
and the director’s favorite film of Verstappen’s career.
Coming to blu-ray for the first time via Cult Epics in a new
2K restoration featuring lossless PCM 2.0 sound and DTS-HD audio in scope
2.35:1 widescreen, the finished product after a long and winding road of
production conflicts and script as well as editorial revisions while not quite
what its creator initially envisioned is perhaps the most nerve-wracking and
tense portrait of a long Dutch airplane pilot whose passion for flying leads
him down a dangerous road of smuggling contraband across the Caribbean.
Starring Keese Brusse as pilot Dick de Boer
who makes occasional pit stops picking up illicit supplies to dump on islands
while his aircraft runs on automatic pilot, he accepts another job to sneak
contraband and make illegal deals when scandal and potential police arrest
starts catching up with him. Stopping in
Suriname on his way to Ameland, he takes all the seats out of the back of his aircraft
and loads them with fuel drums which he siphons gasoline out of whenever his
airborne plane runs on fumes. In any
other person’s hands, this would be a most terrifying predicament to be in, but
as Dick’s plane is put on autopilot to drift endlessly across the ocean, our
hero ventures to the tail of the plane to catch some shut eye as his plane
continues to fly unattended towards wherever.
Keese Brusse perfectly embodies
the carefree pilot’s lackadaisical regard for safety either for himself or
others. Though we’re fearful for this lone
lost soul out in the middle of the great wide ocean, our hero couldn’t be more
relaxed, contented or at peace if he tried almost thriving on the high
altitudes and cloud covering. While the
finished picture may have differed greatly from what was drawn up on paper
initially, Dakota nevertheless winds up being a vital modern classic of
Dutch cinema ripe for rediscovery among genre fans.
The Cult Epics disc comes with plentiful
extras including trailers for other Scorpio Films titles, an original press kit
and footage from the 1978 Cannes Film Festival premiere. The case itself comes housed with a slipcover
and reversible sleeve art with the original Dutch poster. For anyone approaching this from the outset
unfamiliar with the image of an old rusted DC3/Dakota airplane on the
slipcover, Dakota is a terrific character study film through the
framework of a survival adventure thriller while being a portrait of a smuggler’s
life. The disc is solid and this is
surely a taut little masterpiece I’ll absolutely revisit again if not
graciously introduce it to others.
--Andrew Kotwicki