Amsterdam Vice

Amsterdam, 1980. A mild-mannered detective is newly posted to the toughest unit in the city. The place is at breaking point: squatting, street fighting, and a coronation about to happen. When he stumbles onto a violent plan against the royal family, he is in a race against the clock. This is an origin film for the best known detective character in the Netherlands, drawn from Appie Baantjer's long-read novels and the television series. Arne Toonen leaves the nostalgia aside and shoots a hard action picture instead. Amsterdam in 1980 really was in uproar; there was serious disorder in the city on coronation day. The film uses that tension as an engine rather than as scenery.