HOLLAND, Mich. — The hands that have held an Oscar have also grasped the railing of the historic de Zwaan windmill at Windmill Island Gardens.
Two springtimes ago, when Nicole Kidman and her fellow castmembers traveled to the famed tourist attraction to film scenes for Holland, a thriller about a woman's picture-perfect life in the quaint Dutch town, Holland turned Hollywood.
"Every day, I get to wake up in the best place on earth: Holland, Michigan," Kidman's character says in the film, which was released to Amazon Prime Video on March 27.
Though a fictional tale from a Tulip Time of old, Holland is still full of references to Dutch culture and real-life places in Michigan.
Windmill Island Gardens
Well, duh.
This is hardly an Easter Egg, given the prominence of the gardens in the film's iconography, but it's worth mentioning that a staff member at Windmill Island was credited in Holland for her role as a tour guide.
The two-day shoot at the Holland landmark happened in April 2023, too early in the season for tulips to be in bloom. So, the tulip fields in the film had to be computer-generated.
"Obviously, we couldn't shut down [for filming] during Tulip Time, when we have thousands of visitors." said Matt Helmus, general manager of Windmill Island Gardens. "They looked great. It's amazing what they can do with that stuff."
Tulip Time
Of course, a film about Holland also would not be complete without a portrayal of its flowery festival. Downtown parades, Dutch dancing and wooden shoes are all prominently featured in the thriller, as is the song "Tulips are Blooming."
Fun Fact: In 2000, rising pop star Christina Aguilera kicked off her debut tour during Tulip Time at Holland Municipal Stadium. While the fictional events of 'Holland' take place during the same time, this event is not mentioned in the movie.
Delftware
The production design in Holland looks like it was modeled after a traditional Dutch grandmother's home.
"What really struck me," Helmus said. "They had a scene that was in a house. I said, 'Wow, that actually really looks like my grandma's house from about 1997.'"
Here, Helmus is referencing the abundance of delftware in the film. From decorative plates to kissing Dutch couples, the blue-and-white pottery is a staple in culture and design in the Netherlands.
Spreek je Nederlands?
From names to needle drops, a number of Dutch words and phrases are spoken in the film.
The protagonist of Holland, played by Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman, is Nancy Vandergroot, whose surname roughly translates to 'of the great' in Dutch.
In a dinnertime scene, Vandergroot's husband — Fred Vandergroot, played by Matthew MacFadyen — also prays (somewhat inaudibly) in Dutch.
A song about a forbidden relationship, "Het Werd Zomer" (It Became Summer) by Rob de Nijs, a Dutch singer and actor, is also sampled in the film.
This isn't Allegan
During the aforementioned dinner scene, Nancy Vandergroot scoffs, "This isn't Allegan, it's Holland," as a supposed slight to the southerly town.
In addition to Allegan, the cities of Ann Arbor and Frankenmuth are also name-dropped — or traveled to — by characters in the film, as are two of their respective restaurants: Zingerman's and Zehnder’s.
The film's portrayal of the city of Greenville, though, has garnered some criticism, given its larger than life depiction.
"Greenville, we kind of chuckled," Helmus said.
In Holland, Fred Vandergroot takes a passenger train to the town of less than 10,000 and then stays in a high-rise hotel, neither of which exist in modern day Greenville, much less in the 2000s.
Dutch Babies and Bitterballen
A handful of scenes in the straight-to-streaming release were filmed at a stand-in for Holland High School, where Nancy Vandergroot teaches culinary arts. At one point in the movie, she mentions a lesson on how to make Dutch babies, a cross between a pancake and a popover.
Bitterballen, a meatball-like snack served at Dutch bars, is also name-dropped.
Jensen Jewelers?
Nancy Vandergroot is gifted a jewelry box from "Jansen's," a fictional jewelry store whose name sounds strangely similar to West Michigan's own Jensen Jewelers, based in Hudsonville. A coincidence? We'll let you decide.
The Model Train
Fred Vandergroot and his son, Harry, routinely tinker with a model train set in their basement. Michigan brands like Amtrak and Kellogg's can be seen among the Holland-themed set's rolling tulip fields and windmills.
Fiction, not fact
Clearly, director Mimi Cave, screenwriter Andrew Sodroski and production designer JC Molina did their research and paid attention during their trips to Holland.
Still, as storytellers are right to do, the minds behind Holland takes creative liberties here and there.
Several locations in the film — including Holland Optometry and Sleeping Sands — are fictional. Also, while Holland High School is certainly real, its mascot in the movie — The Fighting Tulips — is incorrect. In real life, it's The Dutch.
"It's not meant to be a documentary," Helmus said. "They kind of poke fun at us in some ways, but some things they get right."
"It's cool that someone is familiar with us enough to know about our history and our heritage," he said.
Windmill Island Gardens opened for the season on Monday, April 14.
