Tirza

I recently read Arnon Grunberg's Tirza and found out that there was a film version to it so I was very curious how they managed to put it on the big screen. Well. A film is, as in most cases, unable to reproduce the whole body of a book, especially a complex novel like Grunberg's, full of psychoanalysis and stuff. Still it was quite a let-down for me. I understand that they had to completely cut the first two-thirds of the book, otherwise it would have been unbearably long. What you get is a mess of the plot with flash-forwards and flash-backs. I'm afraid, for one who has not read the book, it is completely incomprehensible. So I suggest that everybody should read the book first and then the film is good to (re)visualize what you imagined while reading.

A movie mixed with the past and the present, the regret, the loss, the father and the prodigal daughter, the constant flashbacks and the confusing mix ups. How could it be possible that this father's cell phone could still get connection no matter where he traveled in the remote and deserted wildness of Africa? Give me a break. His intervene of the hyena and the seal on the beach was what? A symbol of his meddling of his daughter's love affair. This guy was a loser, a confusing low moral guy who actually just used the excuse of finding his estranged daughter in order to get over the shames and the losses of his own life, his obsession of his talented daughter, somewhat an overwhelmed incest father-daughter complex. This is a very boring movie that I didn't find any depth in anything.

The thematics of "Tirza" revolve around the principle of the 'dead white man'. The typical man who seems denied to the elite of living men: this is Jörgen Hofmeester. He is an insignificant, almost banal man whose world further collapses when his favorite daughter, Tirza, graduates and leaves with her Morrocan boyfriend for Namibia. Upon not hearing a word from her after the goodbye, he decides to travel after her to Windhoek.

What follows is an enormous quest for significance, for his daughter and for a center for misguided human beings like himself, on which he encounters only more disappointment, insignificance and errancy. Based on a novel by Anton Grunberg, this movie is highly literary and philosophical in non-aesthetic and non-sentimental ways. From the bitterness of a 9-year-old child prostitute to the coherence of his lives in both the Netherlands and Namibia; everything is masterfully dissected and analyzed from an absolutely merciless point of view.

No heroes here, no villains, because the only villain, as we know, is the human psyche. Grunberg, as well as screenwriter/director Van den Berg, clearly knows how to make surrealism realistic and symbolism natural. This is a completely disoriented movie and after seeing it, it will be difficult to know where the toilets of the cinema are.

As for the cinematography: it is splendid. Cold colors make even the sunlit Namibia look sinister and the quite contrasted colors give the film an extra dimension: not only its visuals are contrasted, but so are its characters. Subtle references to The Shining, Paris;Texas and many other films must be noted.

The performances are engaging and often quite funny: Sylvia Hoeks playing a girl 9 years her minor is the light-bulb in all this and you can sympathize with this sympathetic yet unsure girl. She may be the only thing which is significant in this story. It's understandable that Jörgens feelings for her surpass fatherhood.

The movie of the disturbing novel by the innovative Dutch novelist Arnon Grunberg emphasizes the visualization of the descent of the main character into the dark depths of his pointless existence. It reminded me of the Coen Brothers' Job-type story in A Serious Man. However, it is to Rudolf van den Berg's credit that Tirza leaves a much deeper impression than A Serious Man, since it focuses more on the inner journey of its protagonist rather than how he responds to external impulses. Even though the build-up was classical -through flashbacks we learn more about Jorgen as the story unfolds- the editing and the reveals were surprising; a rare feat today in a time that most movies are cliché-ridden. Gijs Scholten van Asschat portrayed Jorgen beautifully; he alternates between being lost, resigned, hurt, empty and mad and conveys every emotion in a credible way. He wins the audience's sympathy almost to the point that his dealing with 9-year old child prostitute Kaisa appear to be based on pure intentions -although later revelations change this. Very pleased that Tirza is the Netherlands' submission for best foreign film this year and would be surprised if it does not make the short list.