The Black Meteor

De Zwarte Meteoor
Directed by	Guido Pieters
Produced by	Matthijs van Heijningen
Written by	Tom Egbers (novel), Kees van Beijnum (screenplay)
Cinematography	Wouter Suijderhout
Editing by	Tatjana Schops
Distributed by	RCV
Release date(s)	11 December 2000
Running time	107 minutes
Country	Netherlands
Language	Dutch
Budget	€2 million

The Black Meteor is a 2000 Dutch film directed by Guido Pieters. The film is based on the novel by Tom Egbers, a Dutch sports journalist, which was adapted for the screen by Kees van Beijnum. The novel fictionalizes the story of Steve Mokone, the first black player to play in a professional European league.

Plot

The movie is set in the 1950s, when soccer club SC Heracles from Almelo, in the rural east of the Netherlands, acquires an African player. Steve Mokone makes Heracles a successful team, while changing every aspect of life in the small city. Mokone builds a unique friendship with the 15-year old Felix, but then leaves town as quickly as he came.

Reception

Scott Foundas, writing for Variety, was not overly positive, criticizing its "holier-than-thou coming of age/race relations" quality.^[1]

Cast

• Jet Novuka - Steve Mokone
• Erik van der Horst - Felix
• Gijs Scholten van Aschat - Schouten, Heracles chairman
• Peter Tuinman - Verbeek's father
• Lieneke le Roux - Verbeek's mother
• Thekla Reuten - Vera
• Roef Ragas - Jaap Stegehuis
• Caro Lenssen - Mies
• Angelique de Bruijne - neighbor
• Aus Greidanus - Heracles coach
• Wouter van Oord - Tim
• Guus de Wit - Jan
• Benten Wijnen - Jan (as Benten Bastiaan Wijnen)
• Jop Kappelhoff - Koen
• Frederik Brom - Rooie Gaait (as Freek Brom)

References

1. ^ Foundas, Scott (2001-07-23). "Rev. of The Black Meteor". Variety. 

External links

• De Zwarte Meteoor at the Internet Movie Database