8mm Forum: A VISIT TO AMSTERDAM'S TOPFILM

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Posted by Brian Hendel (Member # 61) on August 09, 2009, 05:01 PM:

Buried in the middle of Amsterdam’s charming streets and intertwining canals is a shop that any of us super 8 enthusiasts can appreciate: Topfilm. It’s a throwback to the heyday of super 8 package movies… a time I’m sure we all still fantasize about - a time when you could just pop into the local film shop to check out the latest releases and add to our growing collections. Well, times have changed and the fact that Topfilm still exists is an amazing feat on its own. The credit goes to the shop’s owner T.J. van de Kleut. But before you have the pleasure of meeting him, you first have to find the shop. It’s a bit tricky as I found out traveling down Marnixstraat. The numbers go this way and that way and just when you think you’ve found it, you’re lost again… but in time… there it was.

Seeing super 8 films in a shop window is still a rare and real thrill… but as you approach the window you realize the place has passed its prime. The windows don’t exactly shine… the films in the window are dusty and a bit tattered… Above the front door is a crumbling old 8mm projector (you can see it in the last photo)… and the huge large image of Mickey Mouse in the window smiling above the films is a little misleading. You may want to think twice about bringing kids here. There is no way to keep business going by just selling super 8 of course… so now there is porn everywhere. The fact that you are surrounded mostly by graphic images on the front of X-rated DVDs and tapes fades when Mr. van de Kleut greets you. He emerges from a backroom and is as warm and friendly as you can imagine. He the kind of older, grey-haired man anyone would want as a grandfather.

He sincerely seems happy to meet a fellow super 8 collector and is excited to show me his limited stock. 'How long have you had the shop,' I ask. “35 years… at the beginning it was all super 8,” he says as he gestures to the walls of shelves... “but now…” he doesn’t have to say any more. I can sense he is a little embarrassed that he has to sell porn to stay open. In fact, the people who come in to “shop” while I am there are, well, colorful to put it kindly. A very small man comes in and picks up a stack of DVD’s featuring very large women... Another looks like he crawled out from under a rock. But Mr. van der Kleut treats them with the utmost respect. “I hope you enjoy the videos,” he says with a smile no matter what he’s selling. As for me, I pick a few films from a lot he has just acquired from a collector in the UK. There’s not much left, but I’m happy to bring a couple of films home and support this great relic of a place. I can’t help but dream about being here 30 years ago. There is a fading Disney promo poster on the wall advertising the release of the Pete’s Dragon digest from the 70’s. To my left is a winding staircase up to an attic once, no doubt, packed with extra movie stock… cobwebs now hang from the light fixtures… another poster promotes a super 8 tour of Amsterdam put out by Topfilm I'm guessing many, many years ago. What it must have been like here during thriving super 8 times I can only imagine.

This has to be one of the last remaining shops of its kind in the world. Mr. van de Kleut, who also repairs projectors for the few local collectors still around, sends me and my friend off with sodas and promises to email me lists of films when he has them available. I was happy to make the pilgrimage here, and I hope any of you who go to Amsterdam will pay Topfilm a visit. We should support it for hanging in there and carrying the super 8 flag… porn and all.

[ August 13, 2009, 08:28 PM: Message edited by: Brian Hendel ]

Posted by Kevin Wardle (Member # 1680) on August 09, 2009, 05:24 PM:

That's great, Brian! I hope he continues to trade for many years to come! And if I am ever in Amsterdam I will definitely hunt Top Film out. I used to have their release of Tales Of Terror, 2x300ft and it was very good indeed!

Kevin.

Posted by Brian Hendel (Member # 61) on August 09, 2009, 05:35 PM:

What was Tales of Terror - was it silent Georges Melies films?

Posted by Greg Marshall (Member # 1268) on August 09, 2009, 05:59 PM:

Thanks, Brian, for that post. If we all could only step back in time.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on August 09, 2009, 06:15 PM:

This was a wonderful post. Man, I would love to go there just to step back in time, so to speak!

I remember the last time that I saw Super 8 brand new in a department store. They were on a lower shelf in the reduced bin and were a bargain price. Obviously, I bought them. It was 1986.
It was nearly gone by then.

Posted by Yanis Tzortzis (Member # 434) on August 10, 2009, 07:52 PM:

Brian, thanks for this very interesting post;have been a Topfilm customer for years & will go on for as long as he's around. Yes, he does deserve our support like Derann, CHC,Perry's & all the rest that keep the film flag flying against the current in the 21st century!

Posted by Mike Peckham (Member # 16) on August 11, 2009, 02:43 AM:

Brian

Grreat post! I want to go there now, maybe I can feel a trip to Amsterdam coming on... [Wink]

Mike

Posted by Gian Luca Mario Loncrini (Member # 1417) on August 11, 2009, 03:08 AM:

How great, Brian!
Thanks for posting those pictures and giving us the possibility to share this little magic with you.

Posted by John Clancy (Member # 49) on August 12, 2009, 03:42 AM:

I think Barry Attwood may be able to clear this up but I think CEC obtained copies of the TopFilm Amsterdam 400ft release in about 1991. I remember them screening it at an open day. It came in a colourful plastic clamshell case.

Posted by James N. Savage 3 (Member # 83) on August 12, 2009, 03:53 PM:

Thanks Brian.

That was a very interesting piece, and nicely written.

Yes, its sad that he had to get into selling adult films. But, whats really amazing is that he held on to the old super 8 films, and still make them a centerpiece of the shop. Many people in his situation might have either sold the shop, or abandoned the old products and went all-porn.

I hope I can make it over their one day.

James.

Posted by Adrian Winchester (Member # 248) on August 13, 2009, 07:34 PM:

Great report - I'd strongly recommend submitting it to Steve at Derann as it would make an excellent article for 'Film For The Collector. It's exactly the sort of well-written, Super 8-orientated material that the magazine needs.

My first visit to the shop was about 1988 and it still had a lot of new stock then. Tony even showed me shelves of it in a back room. There were numerous Top Film releases, Marketing prints, German releases (many were graphic zombie films), etc. There was also a lot of porn in those days too, however, except it was on Super 8 and video. The films I bought included the Amsterdam 400' release, which I still have. It's a pretty good travelogue, although a short section on Amsterdam nightlife makes it a film you might not show to all audiences.

Posted by Brian Hendel (Member # 61) on August 13, 2009, 08:29 PM:

Thanks Adrian - I was thinking of sending it to Steve Osborne from The Reel Image ... but maybe I will send it to Steve at Derann as well.

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