The Discovery of Heaven (2001)

Please don't spend money on this.

Fantastic!

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I must have seen a completely different movie, because I cannot identify in any level with most of the comments here. What work of art? The movie is boring, the acting is contrived at best and the only redeeming factor would be that the story itself is great, but unfortunately it was transformed in a 127 minutes borefest. To be completely fair, the movie has its moments, mostly on the first half hour when you anticipate everything that is supposed to happen and you get to know the characters and the storyline, but then..nothing else! I really had high hopes on this movie mostly based on the IMDB reviews, but I learned a lesson. Obviously oppinions are very subjective, but I still wonder why such a high grade for a very flawed movie..

I can't fathom all the praise that this film has received on this site (or any other for that matter). I saw a screening of this movie months ago and was asked to be in the focus group. After the screening, people were lined up asking to be in the focus group because they wanted to express to the film makers what a waste of plastic the movie is and to suggest that it never be released in the U.S. After the focus group was over, several audience members got together outside the theater to continue talking about the painful experience we had all just been through...a kind of bad movie support group.This is a terrible film. The performances are phoned in. The plot is absolutely ridiculous. It starts out as a bad romantic comedy and becomes an even worse biblical epic. Embarrassing. Absolute tripe.

I saw this one together with my father, he read the book, i didn't bother to read the 600 pages. I dont like Mullisch very much he does. The actors are so well chosen, the fit in just right. Quinten could really be their son etc. I cried, i laughed it was just great. Funny part is to see the places in a'dam and westerbork were i've been myself. First finnishing my book i'm reading now, then Mullisch and then prob. Lord of the Rings. I wouldn't say thjis was the best movie i ever seen, but it sure fits in between my other favourites like the godfather, apocalypse now etc. Maybe to much credit but i was wondering if that was because i'm dutch. But the movie has such an international caracter that i doubt it. Well that's it. let me know what you though of it. Bart

I had gone to the movie, with great expectations. I had been to a briefing by Jeroen Krabbe about the movie, so in short i knew what the movie was about, i read parts of the book and summaries, and i had seen the making of the movie. So i went with a certain idea in my mind. I was a little let down by the movie. First of all, you never learn to know and love the characters. At the end you still feel like an outsider looking in, other than someone who is actually experiencing it all. The scenes are little pieces of their lives, with too much information per scene and too little emotion. Flora Montgomery shows no emotion, her face shows nothing. Besides this, the characters are all unlovable and by the end you want them to die and get it over with, because you don't care about Max or Onno. Only Quinten is a little lovable, but more because of how he is treated than who he is. Toward the end, the movie starts getting a little faster. In the beginning it just drags on. Besides this, the movie was filmed wonderfully. Krabbe did an amazing job and he is an amazing director. Also, the way the whole film fits together is wonderful too.