''Ciske de Rat'' ("Ciske the Rat") is the first part of a

trilogy A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected and can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, and video games, and are less common in other art forms. Three-part wo ...

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

author Piet Bakker. It is part of the Ciske

which was written between 1941 (publication was however delayed by paper shortages until 1942) and 1946. The book was published in more than ten countries. It was made into two films, a television series and a musical. Best known is the film version of 1984, starring

Danny de Munk Dennis "Danny" de Munk (born 19 February 1970 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch actor, singer, musical actor and former child star. Career De Munk started acting at the age of 13 as the leading role in the film Ciske de Rat (Ciske the Rat), directed by ...

as Ciske, Herman van Veen and

Willeke van Ammelrooy Willy Geertje van Ammelrooij (born 5 April 1944), known as Willeke van Ammelrooy, is a Dutch actress and director. Life and career Willeke van Ammelrooy was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She attended drama school in Amsterdam. Van Ammelr ...

Plot summary

The setting is in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

in the 1930s. The story is told by Ciske’s new teacher Bruis. Ciske de Rat ("Ciske the Rat") is the story of eleven-year-old lonely

street child Street children are poor or homeless children who live on the streets of a city, town, or village. Homeless youth are often called street kids or street child; the definition of street children is contested, but many practitioners and policyma ...

Ciske (Franciskus) Vrijmoeth, who has no friends and is only called "the Rat". Ciske has to change school, because he poured ink over his teacher's head. After school, he helps out in a pub, where his mother Marie also works. His beloved father Cor is a sailor and therefore not at home. Ciske groeit op ("Ciske grows up") is the second part. Ciske meets his father, who wants to get divorced. At school he makes friends with a sick boy called Dorus. One night, Ciske finds his mother with another man, who beats him. As his mother tears out pages from a book which was borrowed from Dorus, Ciske gets angry and kills his mother with a knife. He is then arrested and put into jail. His teacher helps him out, and after Ciske saves a drowning boy's life, he is declared a hero and lives together with his father and aunt Jans. In the third part, Cis de man ("Cis the man"), Ciske is now an adult soldier and fights against the German soldiers in May 1940, when the Germans invaded the Netherlands. His former teacher Bruis, who tells this story as well, happens to be his sergeant. Cis actually has more authority than Bruis. In the end, Cis gets seriously injured. This part of the book was published in 1946 after the Dutch liberation and is not included in the films.

Films

1955

The first film was issued in 1955, starring

Dick Van der Velde Dick, Dicks, or Dick's may refer to: Media * ''Dicks'' (album), a 2004 album by Fila Brazillia * Dicks (band), a musical group * ''Dick'' (film), a 1999 American comedy film * "Dick" (song), a 2019 song by Starboi3 featuring Doja Cat Names ...

as Ciske and

Kees Brusse Kees Brusse (; 26 February 1925 – 9 December 2013) was a Dutch actor, film director and screenwriter. A self-taught actor, he was remarkable for his natural acting style at a time when more theatrical performances were the norm in The Neth ...

as the teacher Bruis. The black-and-white film, which was directed by

Wolfgang Staudte Wolfgang Staudte (9 October 1906 – 19 January 1984), born Georg Friedrich Staudte, was a German film director, script writer and actor. He was born in Saarbrücken. After 1945, Staudte also looked at German guilt in the cinema. Alongside H ...

, won an OCIC Award and a Silver Lion at the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

. Based on admissions, it is still the third most popular Dutch film in Dutch box office history.

1984

The second film was directed by

Guido Pieters Guido Pieters (born 1948 in Maastricht) is a Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the ...

and filmed by

Frans Bromet Frans is an Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish given name, sometimes as a short form of ''François''. One cognate of Frans in English is ''Francis''. Given name * Frans van Aarssens (1572–1641), Dutch diplomat ...

. Ciske is played by

who also sang the title song ''Ik voel me zo verdomd alleen'' ("I feel so damned alone") which scored a number one hit in the Netherlands. An enhanced television series was later broadcast. Both films are still in the Top fifteen most-successful films in The Netherlands since 1945.

Soundtrack

The 1984 soundtrack features two songs from the film: ''Ik voel me zo verdomd alleen'' (composed by Herman van Veen, lyrics by Karin Loomans) and ''Vergeet nu maar je zorgen'' ("Now forget your worries"), which is played at the closing credits.

Musical

From October 5, 2007 to November 29, 2009, a musical based on the full trilogy toured the Netherlands and Belgium, starring 37-year-old

(who had gone on to appear in several Dutch musicals in the years after his portrayal of young Ciske in the movie) as grown-up Ciske. The musical was based on the 1984 film but added part of the storyline of the third book, switching back and forth between flashbacks to the events occurring in the 1930s and the days before the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940. The show featured music by

Henny Vrienten Henny Vrienten (27 July 1948 – 25 April 2022) was a Dutch musician best known as the singer and bassist of the popular 1980s ska pop band Doe Maar. He also composed television and film scores. Biography Early days Vrienten began his care ...

and lyrics by André Breedland. Paul Eenens directed the production. Queen

Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husband ...

was present at the gala premiere at the Royal Theater Carré in Amsterdam. The show received very positive reviews and seven Dutch musical awards (in 2008 the most awards ever bestowed on a single production). A CD and DVD were released of this stage production. The musical was staged again in 2016/2017, in a slightly modified version, once more directed by Paul Eenens and starring Danny de Munk. It won, among others, the 2017 Dutch Musical Award for Best Dutch Musical.

References

External links

* *
Ciske de Rat (1955)
at hollandsfilmglorie.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciske De Rat 1942 novels Dutch children's novels Novels set in Amsterdam Dutch novels adapted into films Dutch novels adapted into television shows Dutch novels adapted into plays Novels set in the 1930s 1942 children's books Matricide in fiction Dutch musicals