Boudewijn de Groot - Come Closer

2015 • 90m

Over the past fifty years, Boudewijn de Groot has written and sung countless songs and turned out hits that are etched in our national consciousness. His Avond is the only Dutch song to have been in the top 5 of the TOP 2000 for more than ten years. His work is part of Dutch cultural heritage. And yet: Boudewijn de Groot himself remains a mystery. In the year he turns seventy, he decides to leave behind the hits that he has been singing for the past fifty years, and that form a bridge between him and his vast army of fans. He will never sing them again: no more Prikkebeen, no more Jimmy, no more Het land van Maas en Waal. He has more to offer.

In the documentary Boudewijn de Groot - Come Closer, he says goodbye on stage to his hits and he works on new, often very personal songs. For the first time, he allows a camera to come behind the scenes and into his private space. His children and his friends reflect on half a century of his life and career, and they wonder at how Boudewijn has remained such as mystery, even to them. The film goes on a musical road trip through time and sets out to discover who this introverted man really is.