Vlissingen 2025 Review: A WOMAN LIKE MONIQUE

The Dutch actress Monique van de Ven is the closest what we have in the Netherlands to Film Royalty. Entering the movie industry back in 1973 at the age of 19, her debut alongside Rutger Hauer in Paul Verhoeven's Turkish Delight (based on the wildly successful novel by Jan Wolkers), was a perfect storm of Dutch upcoming talent. For Monique it was the start of a long career in acting with many highlights. This year, the Vlissingen-based Film by the Sea Festival honored her with a Career Achievement Award. The festival also hosted the World Premiere of Claire Pijman's film A Woman Like Monique, a documentary-fiction hybrid about the actress.

That someone would want to make a documentary about Monique van de Ven is not surprise, and that the person doing it is Claire Pijman is not a surprise either. The two have known each other for over thirty years.

What IS a surprise is the form Pijman chooses for her film. Monique is a fun woman to talk with and can easily fill an evening with interesting anecdotes about all the films she's been in. To facilitate this, the film puts Monique in a fictional setting: alone, in a secluded old beach house in Bretagne. Not her actual home, but it serves that purpose in the film. She is preparing for a film about herself when a Dutch cyclist (played by Joes Brauwers) has an accident in front of her house. While helping the guy, he recognizes her from one of the film posters on the wall, starting one of many conversations about her life and career. The remainder of the film details their conversations together as he stays to mend his bike, interspersed with clips from Monique's films and talks with colleagues.

Monique van de Ven has directed films in the past, and if this had been one of her projects, it could have come across as an epic ego-trip. But Claire Pijman deftly sidesteps this. While the artifice of the fictional construct sometimes shows, in general you see a young actor talk with an older actress, and his interest and admiration are real. With the filmclips and Monique's candid talks with collaborators like directors Paul Verhoeven and Nouchka van Brakel, the fictional part thankfully is far in the background for most of the time, and what is being shared feels true. And at only 85 minutes, the film does not overstay its welcome.

You might wonder if the film had worked better as a 'straight' documentary, leaving out the framing story altogether. But whether you think this experiment works or not, it doesn't distract much from the information which is given, and the end result is a very pleasant film to watch. And a fitting tribute to a legend.


A Woman Like Monique will get a wide release in the Netherlands on Thursday the 18th of September, and will be travelling festivals worldwide.