De helleveeg

I just saw this excellent film from the Netherlands at the EU Film Festival in Ottawa, Canada. It managed to make me curious in the beginning, then it made me laugh, and then it made me cry... The film brings you back to mid 20th century in EU when being a woman wasn't always easy. I thought the story was intriguing and neat and it flowed at a nice pace. Loved how the characters were well developed but not overly, just enough depth. I find sometimes film makers either don't give us enough information or get lost in telling us a bit too much about them. Actors did an awesome job, Hannah Hoekstra (Tiny) was so pleasant to watch! And of course I loved the directors' style, it kept me interested right until the very end, and made me go through all emotional states! What a gem!

A. F. Th. Van der Heijden is a renowned Dutch writer. In 2016 two of his books were adapted to film. "Tonio" (Paula van der Oest) is about the death of the son of van der Heijden in a traffic accident. "The fury" (André van Duren) is about the lifelong relationship of van der Heijden with his aunt Tiny (Hannah Hoekstra).

A difficulty in making this film is that it portrays a lifelong relationship. There are many films in which a character is followed at two ages (for example as a kid and as an adult) the solution often being working with two different actors. In this film two characters are followed at numerous different ages, the solution being grimace and period details in the set pieces.

Early in the film it becomes quite obvious that aunt Tiny has been the victim of sexual abuse at a young age. The real questions that remain are:

Who donnit?

What was the impact?

The answer to the first question is shocking, but twice as shocking is the silence (and sometimes even cooperation) of the social environment. In one scene the perpetrator makes quite clear he has not the slightest fear of discovery. He knows for sure that everybody who knows will keep his or her mouth shut. In another "Festen" (1998, Thomas Vinterberg) like scene aunt Tiny herself does not keep her mouth shut on a family gathering. She immediatly turns from victim into perpatrotor for "tarnishing the family honour", something that really counted in the Netherlands of the 50's.

The answer to the second question was also shocking for me. The film shows how the damage done lasts a whole life, even at old age the intensity of the anger does not decrease a bit.

The film's context should have been dramatic but it was directed as if it was a comedy. The acting was good at times but totally inconsistant while the makeup department didnt do much of a good job either. The ending scene was the movie's strongpoint, dramatic and in touch with reality, while at the same time a total misfit considering the rest of the movie. In my opinion there wasnt any cohesion between the different era's, it was out of context really.

A great movie! Really keeps you thinking. Gives one the ability to think about one's own past!

Through the eyes of a young boy we look at Tiny, an intriguing young woman.All men seem to love her - and she seems to love and please every man --- even the ugly and older ones. Tiny is like a hurt little bird. Sometimes she rages, sometimes she is warm and tender for the young boy. The movie shows how she and the boy get older - and how he discovers an awful secret about her. The actors all play very daring - they become older and older during the play. It is all about the hypocrisy in a family in the catholic south of the Netherlands in the fifties and sixties. When at the end the secret about Tiny is revealed, the personages are all very old - their lives have slipped away and nobody ever noticed Tiny's pain. Life is irreversible and Andre van Duren shows this in a moving and impressive way - and transcends the mere movie-anecdote of a hurt and abused girl. This is a worthy successor of the other movies by director Andre van Duren. With again realistic provincial people made of flesh and blood --- who are comical as well as tough and narrow- minded in their smugness. In De Helleveeg you can feel how a whole life slips away - and therefore it was moving and poignant.