For a Lost Soldier

For a Lost Soldier Voor een verloren soldaat
For a Lost Soldier book cover
Directed by	Roeland Kerbosch
Produced by	Guurtje Buddenberg Matthijs van Heijningen
Written by	Don Bloch Roeland Kerbosch Rudi van Dantzig (novel)
Starring	Maarten Smit Jeroen Krabbé Andrew Kelley Freark Smink Elsje de Wijn
Music by	Joop Stokkermans
Cinematography	Nils Post
Editing by	August Verschueren
Distributed by	Malofilm Distribution Concorde Pictures
Release date(s)	22 May 1992
Running time	92 mins
Country	Netherlands
Language	Dutch English

For a Lost Soldier (Voor Een Verloren Soldaat) is a 1992 Dutch film based upon the autobiographical novel of the same title by ballet dancer and choreographer Rudi van Dantzig. It deals with the romantic / sexual relationship between a 12-year-old boy (Dantzig) and a Canadian soldier during the final months leading up to the liberation of the Netherlands from Nazi occupation during World War II.

Plot summary

Jeroen (Jeroen Krabbé) reminisces about the time in 1944 when he (Maarten Smit) and other children were sent to the countryside by their parents to escape the war. The city suffers from food shortages, with more food available in the country. He stays with an eel fisher's family, but despite the abundance of food, he is plagued by homesickness.

Things change when the village is liberated by Canadian troops. Jeroen meets Walt Cook (Andrew Kelley), a Canadian soldier in his early 20s, who befriends him. Jeroen revels in the attention the soldier showers on him, and eventually their relationship becomes sexual. His foster parents are aware of the closeness between Jeroen and the soldier, but it is unclear in the film whether they are aware of the sexual nature of the relationship.

After a few more days, Walt's troop are ordered to move and Walt leaves without saying goodbye to Jeroen. Jeroen is heartbroken, having only a photo to remind him of the soldier. After the war is over, he returns to his family back in Amsterdam, where he decides to go to America later in his life.

The film ends with grown-up Jeroen affectionately recalling the story and trying to express it as a ballet dance. While rehearsing the dance, his assistant hands him an envelope. He opens the envelope to find and enlargement of the only photo of him and the soldier and also a further enlargement of the soldier's dog tag with his identification. He realises that he can now find his lost soldier after all this time.

In the novel, Walt's name is Walter P. Narbutus.

Cast

• Maarten Smit ... Jeroen Boman
• Jeroen Krabbé ... Jeroen Boman (adult)
• Andrew Kelley ... Walt Cook
• Freark Smink ... Hait
• Elsje de Wijn ... Mem
• Derk-Jan Kroon ... Jan
• Wiendelt Hooijer ... Henk
• Iris Misset ... Bonden
• Gineke de Jager ... Elly
• Tatum Dagelet ... Gertie
• Marie-José Kouwenhoven ... Renske
• Valerie Valentine ... Laura
• William Sutton ... Chuck
• Andrew Butling ... Buikspreker
• Andrew Cassani ... Winslow

See also

• Pederastic filmography
• List of books portraying pedophilia or sexual abuse of minors
• List of films portraying paedophilia or sexual abuse of minors

External links

• For a Lost Soldier at the Internet Movie Database

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