Langer licht

NORTHERN LIGHT (David Lammers - Netherlands 2006).

This feature debut by David Lammers is a very slow film, especially the first 25 minutes require a lot of patience. The film was advertised as "A film about a summer in Amsterdam-Noord". Perhaps that's the most accurate description I can think of, because there's not much story or dialog and the film mostly consists of nicely lensed silent images of Amsterdam. The central character is Lucien (Raymond Thiry), owner of a boxing school in Amsterdam-Noord, to whom the training and well-being of the kids he's coaching means everything, but he's estranging his 15-year old son Mitchel (Dai Carter). After a violent confrontation with his son, he slowly descends into solitude and everything he cared for is falling apart.

Together with GUERNSEY, DIEP and HET ZWIJGEN, this is the fourth and last film in a film project, called "De Oversteek", in collaboration with the VPRO and the Dutch Filmfonds, to give young filmmakers the chance to make a feature film. I think it's time the search for other talent continues, because this is yet another inept attempt at making a feature film. And why do these four films all feel strangely the same? Slowly-paced, weak or barely scripted at all, they just feel like they all have been post doctored by a third party who tried to polish their look.

Filmed during high summer, Amsterdam-Noord has never looked this appealing and David Lammers clearly shows some cinematic talent. For instance, the scene in which Mitchel is driving on his brand new bicycle in a ballet dress looks beautiful. A strangely surreal and memorable scene, but the endless string of nice images wears thin after a while. After twenty minutes or so, the relationship between father and son is spelled out, and from then on, nothing happens. Not a big help are the one-dimensional performances by Dai Carter and Raymond Thiry. In a film like this, without much plot or dialog, the casting of the two leads is paramount. They are almost constantly on-screen without much dialog, so most of the time we have to root for their emotions through silent expressions. In the case of Lucien he is such an unsympathetic character, it's hard to care for him at all. Dai Carter, who is on screen in seemingly endless close-ups, doesn't express anything and gives one of the most distancing performances I have ever seen. But what ultimately sinks this, is some embarrassingly awful dialog. One particular reconciliation scene between Lucien and Mitchel was actually quite powerful and moving, but is ruined by some totally unnecessary chit-chat about coffee that ruins the whole impact of the scene.

Lammers is primarily a director of silent images. Writing or handling actors and dialog, doesn't seem to interest him at all. In an interview he gave on Dutch television, I saw a very shy young man, whose main interest was, so he said, capturing the beauty of Amsterdam-Noord. When asked what the film was about, he didn't seem to know himself. He's no dummy though and brought former pin-up girl Monique Sluyter, who has a small part in the film, with him for some extra publicity. Anyway, he might have made some nicely filmed shorts and some points for the cinematography are in place, but for a 90 minute feature somewhat more material might come in handy. Dai Carter apparently has quit acting and started a career in the military, where his wooden expressions are probably much more appreciated.

Camera Obscura --- 4/10

I don't like Dutch movies, and this film illustrates why. They showed this film during an open air festival to celebrate something in Amsterdam North, the place where they shot this terrible film. The celebration didn't take long. Almost everybody left the place because the film was very, very boring. The actors did their best, but the storyline way too simple. Only a few people over eighty saw the whole film, but they were probably deaf or blind, or both. I don't think this film was in the theaters and I understand why. The only positive thing about the film is that it's only 83 minutes. I must say, it felt like three hours.

I read about the film here and saw the high rating it got, just a couple of hours before I saw it in the theater. I kinda already knew it wasn't going to be worth the 9 stars it got here at that time. Did the cast and crew rate it themselves? I think so.

Because I didn't like it at all. The drama was much too easy, as it often is with Dutch art-house cinema. The first 20 minutes are okay. Interesting scenes, good acting (which remains). Then the turning point comes (that's not a spoiler, right?). Normal people start behaving as art-house character weirdos for a moment. The rest of the drama turns into slow scenes and long depressive looks. And a few minutes after the twist you already know how this story is going to end. So all that remained for me was being dragged through the rest of it. Good acting kept it from being totally boring and cliché. I'm happy its only 83 minutes.

I saw this film years ago as part of the Seattle International Film Festival or SIFF as we call it. I went because it was a Dutch film, not knowing anything about it, and enjoyed it tremendously.

It was slow paced, which I enjoyed it for, without a lot of "plot"...something I have read it has received a lot of criticism for. I would argue that the plot may not be big, but it is deep and allowed you the room to think (ponder if you will).

The story is ultimately about a father-son relationship. The father is very taciturn and the owner/coach at a local boxing gym. His son is different. This causes some friction between the two. Machismo means everything to the one...while probably nothing to the other. That is a complex relationship. Love, protection, fear, hatred, hurt, anger...there is a lot in this film. Told almost entirely through expressions with very little dialogue, which didn't bother me because they are guys! How many guys do you know who are good about expressing their emotions and fears? Especially to other guys? This seemed natural and organic.

The best part of the film was the cinematography. I felt like this was a gorgeous summer postcard to Amsterdam-North which is separated from the bustling city by a river giving it a small town feel in a big city. So watch it for nothing else but that...and I think you will enjoy it.

Typical Dutch low quality drama. Very predictable. Pretentious. Actors are more intense and sincere in their performance. Seems in beginning like some unity. Like the photography. But director copied probably some films he liked and combined them into a new "film". Wants to be an artist without any idea or real personal interest. This David Lammers lacks own personality. No any extra layers in it. Not worth watching. Only good for Dutch critics (and the so called creative broadcaster who sponsors them). They like it to praise such film since they think its art. Langer Licht has no any real interesting or expressive moments in which as a viewer you will get into atmosphere of the film.