Cinéclub Podcast number 21 is a conversation with Nico Bruinsma, usually known as Nico B., of the Blu-Ray label Cult Epics. Nico’s name has come up on the show before, because he released restored versions of Marleen Gorris’ first three films, which were discussed in episode 17 with Sue Thornham. On that podcast I said that I wanted to do more on Dutch cinema, and later it occurred to me that Nico would be the ideal person to ask, since he has put out so many great Dutch films on Cult Epics. We decided to focus on Scorpio films, the production company formed by directors Wim Verstappen and Pim de la Parra in 1965, and discuss a number of titles from across their output.

Verstappen and de la Parra were both students at the Nederlandse Filmacademie which opened in 1958, and were on the editorial board of the film magazine Skoop, published from 1963. Scorpio’s first feature, Verstappen’s De minder gelukkige terugkeer van Joszef Katus narr het land van Rembrant (1966), was made for a tiny budget of 10,000 guilders. The success of 1969’s Obsessions was eclipsed two years later by Blue Movie, which tapped into a newly sexually enlightened audience. Over 2 million people saw it, and it energised the moribund film industry in the Netherlands. Paul Verhoeven, whose Wat zien ik? was released the same year, said that 1971 was “the year that Dutch cinema was reborn.”

The frank sexuality of Blue Movie and other Scorpio releases doesn’t tell the whole story, however. Wim Verstappen followed Blue Movie with VD in 1972, a pitch-black satire that provocatively frustrates the anticipated sex sequences with abrupt cuts to graphic slaughterhouse footage. Pim and Wim also made more personal films: Verstappen’s Dakota (1974), a story about an obsessive longer pilot, was filmed on the island of Curacao where the director grew up. Similarly, Pim de la Parra made Wan Pipel (1976), the first film to be made in his home country of Suriname after the country won independence from the Dutch.

Both of these films went over budget, and both tanked at the box office. Scorpio never recovered, and declared bankruptcy in 1978.

Nico and I discussed Dutch cinema before Scorpio, Blue Movie’s blend of arthouse cinema and sex, the gear change of VD, the financial failure and artistic success of Dakota and Wan Pipel, the legacy of Pim and Wim in the Netherlands, and much more.

You can also find this episode on…

* Apple Podcasts

* Pocket Casts

* I will no longer be uploading podcasts to Spotify and have removed all previous episodes of the podcast from that platform. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do for ages, because Spotify is a transparently evil company that delights in ripping off musicians, promoting AI slop, and enabling genocide in Palestine.

Show notes

* Cult Epics website

* Articles on Pim and Wim at the Eye Film Institute website

* Pim and Wim: Scorpio Films

* Skoop and Skrien: A New Wind

* Dutch Film Academy

* Article on the troubled production of Dakota at Nostalgia Kinky

* Stream Pim de la Parra’s Rubia’s Jungle (1970) for free at Eye Film Player

* Buy issue 2 of the Cinéclub fanzine

* 44 pages w/ articles on Conrad Rooks’ bizarre, star-studded countercultural artifact Chappaqua, some shorter pieces on punk and film, and an essay linking Bertrand Tavernier’s 1974 film The Watchmaker of St. Paul (also known as The Clockmaker of St. Paul) to Paul Vecchiali’s La Machine from 1977. DIY and sold on a not-for-profit basis at a cost that just covers the cost of printing: £2.50 plus postage. Shipping internationally.

* Issue 1 is also still available, and you can buy both as a bundle.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit cineclub.substack.com