It depends on who you ask. Director Diederick Koopal and screenwriter Frank Ketelaar say that they interviewed many people who knew André Hazes up close, such as family members and the people that he worked with, in order to get an accurate picture. Overall, the broad lines of the movie are accurate, and a lot of the events in the movie occurred in real life.
However, Jos van Zoelen, who was Hazes' driver, bodyguard, personal manager and friend for years, highly criticized the movie. He wrote a book called "André Hazes & ik" about his time with Hazes, and claims the story in the movie is mainly a reinterpretation of facts by Rachel Hazes, who was the singer's third wife up to his death. He also claims that André's youngest brother was the only sibling interviewed, and was probably too young at the time to remember many details of André's childhood. As a result, van Zoelen maintains that a lot of details are consciously omitted or twisted:
The movie shows André's father Joop as an abusive alcoholic man, who forced his son to drink beer when he was still a child. According to van Zoelen, this is not true; Hazes sr. hardly ever drank until he lost his government job, and started working in bars, which was much later in André's life.
André was married three times, and had a daughter with his first wife. Both women are entirely absent from the movie. His second wife Ellen is in the movie, but she is depicted as materialistic and hardly committed to André. Van Zoelen claims that in reality, Ellen was an extremely good influence on André: she supported his career, and made sure that he stopped squandering all his money. Supposedly, the song "Zij Gelooft In Mij" was dedicated to Ellen, and not Rachel (as is often claimed). Ellen is shown as being absent when André performs in Het Concertgebouw, while in reality, she was sitting front-row, next to André's mother. It was André's father who was absent from the concert, so the entire scene where André finally gets his 'revenge' on his father during the concert is entirely fictionalized.
Ellen and André had a son together, who became the namesake of André's company (Melvin Productions). He is also absent from the movie. Rachel (his future wife) is claimed to be 15 years old when she and André began their relationship. In reality, she was only 12 years old.
Much of the character of André's producer, Tim de Griek, has also been made up. He is depicted in the movie as André's discoverer, as well as his voice of reason and inner conscience, always patching things up between André and his wife, or with the producers. He shields André from hysterical fans, and also objects heavily to André's alcoholism and escapades with underage girls. According to van Zoelen, the real de Griek did not introduce André to the producers at EMI, he came in much later in André's career. He hardly cared if André did anything immoral, and was usually absent when there was trouble. He was a heavy drinker himself, and died in a car accident because he was driving under the influence.
Rachel Hazes is being depicted as standing by her husband until his untimely death. In reality, tensions in their marriage rose so high that they were technically separated by the time that André died. Rachel's parents are also absent from the movie, even though her father (André's father-in-law) was a very important supportive figure in André's life and career.
Lastly, van Zoelen himself does not feature in the movie at all. The story suggests that Robert de Waal (van Zoelen's successor) was André's driver and bodyguard since at least 1982. De Waal was not employed by Hazes until 1997, when van Zoelen quit his job.
However, Jos van Zoelen, who was Hazes' driver, bodyguard, personal manager and friend for years, highly criticized the movie. He wrote a book called "André Hazes & ik" about his time with Hazes, and claims the story in the movie is mainly a reinterpretation of facts by Rachel Hazes, who was the singer's third wife up to his death. He also claims that André's youngest brother was the only sibling interviewed, and was probably too young at the time to remember many details of André's childhood. As a result, van Zoelen maintains that a lot of details are consciously omitted or twisted:
The movie shows André's father Joop as an abusive alcoholic man, who forced his son to drink beer when he was still a child. According to van Zoelen, this is not true; Hazes sr. hardly ever drank until he lost his government job, and started working in bars, which was much later in André's life.
André was married three times, and had a daughter with his first wife. Both women are entirely absent from the movie. His second wife Ellen is in the movie, but she is depicted as materialistic and hardly committed to André. Van Zoelen claims that in reality, Ellen was an extremely good influence on André: she supported his career, and made sure that he stopped squandering all his money. Supposedly, the song "Zij Gelooft In Mij" was dedicated to Ellen, and not Rachel (as is often claimed). Ellen is shown as being absent when André performs in Het Concertgebouw, while in reality, she was sitting front-row, next to André's mother. It was André's father who was absent from the concert, so the entire scene where André finally gets his 'revenge' on his father during the concert is entirely fictionalized.
Ellen and André had a son together, who became the namesake of André's company (Melvin Productions). He is also absent from the movie. Rachel (his future wife) is claimed to be 15 years old when she and André began their relationship. In reality, she was only 12 years old.
Much of the character of André's producer, Tim de Griek, has also been made up. He is depicted in the movie as André's discoverer, as well as his voice of reason and inner conscience, always patching things up between André and his wife, or with the producers. He shields André from hysterical fans, and also objects heavily to André's alcoholism and escapades with underage girls. According to van Zoelen, the real de Griek did not introduce André to the producers at EMI, he came in much later in André's career. He hardly cared if André did anything immoral, and was usually absent when there was trouble. He was a heavy drinker himself, and died in a car accident because he was driving under the influence.
Rachel Hazes is being depicted as standing by her husband until his untimely death. In reality, tensions in their marriage rose so high that they were technically separated by the time that André died. Rachel's parents are also absent from the movie, even though her father (André's father-in-law) was a very important supportive figure in André's life and career.
Lastly, van Zoelen himself does not feature in the movie at all. The story suggests that Robert de Waal (van Zoelen's successor) was André's driver and bodyguard since at least 1982. De Waal was not employed by Hazes until 1997, when van Zoelen quit his job.
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By what name was Bloed, zweet & tranen (2015) officially released in Canada in English?
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