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1[[quoteright:299:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kenau_47042535_ps_1_s_high.png]]
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3''Kenau'' is a Dutch movie, released in 2014, that focuses on the historical siege of Haarlem of 1572-1573 by the Spanish army. Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer is the leader of the women that defended the city. She is a widow and owns a shipbuilder supplies company.
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5The movie starts in 1572, when parts of the Low Countries were already in open revolt against UsefulNotes/PhilipII of Spain. Kenau tries to keep herself and her daughters out of the conflict. Yet, after one of her daughters participates in smashing up a Catholic church and is burned, her feelings against the Spanish occupiers harden.
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7When the Spanish reach the city of Haarlem, she ends up in the thick of the fighting. From there, she begins to lead a group of women in defending part of the city, using trickery and bravery to withstand the Spanish army.
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11!!''Kenau'' provides examples of:
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13* ActionFilmQuietDramaScene
14* ActionGirl: Lots of the women of Haarlem grow into this by necessity.
15* ActionMom: Kenau
16* AmazonBrigade: Though they work together with the men, the women of Haarlem often act on their own as well.
17* AuthorityInNameOnly: The women of Haarlem make their own (highly successful) plans to protect Haarlem, without approval from the city council.
18* BerserkButton: Don Fadrique doesn't take it well when he learns that he's being withstood by a woman.
19* BigDamnHeroes
20* BilingualBonus: The Spanish characters speak Spanish amongst each other and French when they communicate with the Dutch. The Bishop of Utrecht uses Latin when condeming Gertruide and her compatriots to die.
21* BringIt
22* TheCharmer: It does not take Dominique much time to charm Kathelijne off her feet.
23* ChekhovsSkill: Kenau saves one of her employees at the beginning from drowning. Her being able to swim helps her [[spoiler: survive her execution in the end]].
24* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler: Kenau. Bound and with her city overrun, she still challenges the Spanish commander]].
25* TheDogBitesBack: When regent Duyff is trying to flee after betraying the city, his wife repays him by exposing his treason because he had earlier given her to a Spanish commander to "use", clearly without her consent.
26* DomesticAbuse: It is likely that Teun is this. After dying, his widow Bertha comes into her own as one of Haarlem's defenders.
27* EstablishingCharacterMoment: When one of her employees falls into the water, Kenau jumps into it and saves him.
28* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler: Ripperda]]
29* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: Averted. Gertruide and Kathelijne clearly care for each other a lot. When Gertruide is burned, [[spoiler:Kathelijne shoots her only to spare her death by fire]].
30* GloryDays: [[spoiler: Though Haarlem gets overrun finally, it is stated in the end that its staunch defense helped keep Alkmaar free, which is where victory started for the Dutch]].
31* TheHeretic: What a lot of Dutch people are, according to the Spanish. The persecution of Protestants is the main reason the Low Countries rose in revolt against Spain.
32* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Kenau, Ripperdá, Don Fadrique and his father UsefulNotes/TheDukeOfAlba.
33* HoneyTrap: Magdalena goes to the Spanish camp to offer herself to Don Frederique, who she knew fancied her as he had already slept with her before thanks to her unscrupulous husband, to become a spy for the local defenders.
34* KickTheDog: Duyff being a horrible human being is established when he leaves his young wife with the Spanish commander, clearly offering her for sex.
35* LastStand
36* MercyKill: [[spoiler: Kathelijne rather shoots her sister than let her perish in the flames]].
37* TheMistress: Alda
38* ParentalFavoritism: It seems Kathelijne is hinting at this during one of her arguments with Kenau.
39* PimpedOutDress: Mostly averted. Kenau is only rich when contrasting her with most other people in her city. She gives her best dress to Magdalena, to help her seduce Don Fadrique.
40* RefusalOfTheCall: Kenau, because she wants to protect her daughters and company.
41* RousingSpeech: [[spoiler: Kenau gives one, persuading the other women to stay and defend Haarlem until the end]].
42* ShowSomeLeg: Several of the women of Haarlem completely undress and dance on the city walls to distract the enemy.
43* TheSiege
44* TookALevelInBadass: Many of the people in Haarlem, but Bertha and Magdalena specifically. Downplayed with Kenau mostly, as she was already pretty badass before Haarlem was attacked. The only sign of it with her is that she is shocked for a second or two after making her first kill by stabbing a man in the eye.
45* UndyingLoyalty: Most of the people of Haarlem to their city and the cause of liberation from the Spanish.
46* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenau_Simonsdochter_Hasselaer Kenau Simonsdochter Hasselaer]] was a real person who lived during the Siege of Haarlem and participated in its defense against the Spanish forces by tirelessly working to strengthen the defensive lines. In the seventeenth century she was seen as a hero and several paintings were made of her carrying weapons. In the more prudish nineteenth century, however, perception changed and it was no longer considered possible that a woman fought on the front lines. Now, historians say it is unclear whether or not she actively fought. That said, the movie boldly announces it is going to tell what "everyone knows" to be the ''real'' story.
47* WarIsHell
48* WellDoneSonGuy: Don Fadrique, the commander of the Spanish forces besieging Haarlem, visibly turns into a little boy when his father the Duke of Alba makes an unexpected visit to berate him for failing to subdue the city.
49* WideEyedIdealist: Gertruide happily joins the iconoclasm in Haarlem's church, seeing it as a great adventure. She realizes how out of her depth she was when she gets captured and condemned to be burned at the stake.
50* WillTheyOrWontThey: Kathelijne and Dominique

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