De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe (English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 translation: "The Ship-boys of Bontekoe") is a 2007 Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 family film

Family film

A family film is a film genre that is designed to appeal to a variety of age groups and, thus, families.In December 2005, Steven Spielberg's 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial came first in a poll of the 100 Greatest Family Films. The genre today generates billions of dollars per annum.Family...

, directed by Steven de Jong.

The film received a Golden Film

Golden Film

The Golden Film is a film award recognizing domestic box office achievements in the Netherlands. The Golden Film is awarded to films from the Netherlands once they have sold . The award is an initiative by the Netherlands Film Festival and the Netherlands Film Fund to increase media attention for...

 for .

The film is based on the book De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe.

Plot / differences with the book

In the film three of the boys play the central roles: Hajo, Rolf, and Padde, while Harmen is here an adult. In the film after the ship wreck the four plus Hein Rol and two other men are in a lifeboat. They do not make a sail but row. They assume that Bontekoe is dead. One of the men dies. The remaining six meet locals and trade with them. Rol and another man try to steal from the locals, after which the six are attacked. The three boys together with local girl Dolimah move on. After some time Dolimah returns, and the three reach Java. However, the danger is not over because the authorities want to kill Padde because the ship wreck was his fault. Bontekoe shows up, he has survived too, and saves Padde by lying that it is not him. They get a job on Bontekoe's new ship on its voyage home. Hajo proudly brings his earnings to his poor mother.

External links

• De Scheepsjongens van Bontekoe (official website)