Netherlands Best Films

The Red Turtle (Netherlands)

The Red Turtle Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

If you’re a fan of Studio Ghibli or struggling to answer some of life’s big questions, you should check out this film. It is a beautiful animation that explores some of the biggest philosophical debates. Who are we? What is the meaning of life and death? And what is beauty? Go ahead and watch Michael Dudok de Wit’s animation, birthed when Studio Ghibli sent him a letter out of the blue asking if he wanted to make a film!

Why Watch the Red Turtle?

You want to see a European Studio Ghibli film from Michael Dudok de Wit, complete with magical realism and beautiful animation
To hear an excellent soundtrack composed by a former doctor (it’s never too late to do what you love)
If you love the idea of being stuck on a desert island (Robinson Crusoe was the inspiration for this film)
Watch and question who you are really are if you were to be stuck on a desert island

The Breakdown

The film starts with a night time storm in the ocean. A man struggles to stay afloat as huge waves swirl and crash around him. He spots his dinghy but as he swims towards it, a wave crashes on top of it, breaking it into driftwood.

There are no colours in this opening scene. All of the night time scenes are shot in black and white. Later, on the island, the night sky shines with a beautiful mat of stars. The monochrome nights appear more real than the heavily lighted night scenes we are used to. They contain what the director calls ‘beauty in subtlety.’ There are no bright colours or heavy lighting similar to the Hollywood films we are used to. In fact the first appearance of the red turtle is the first moment in which red appears on screen. The director’s subtle palette is reminiscent of Studio Ghibli (see Tale of Princess Kaguya) and Japanese art in general. It is from these influences that the director found beauty in subtlety, used in this film.

The film is also a tale of life and death, similar to the circle of life in Lion King. You see animals on the island full of life in one scene and then dead and being fed on in the next. The film’s cyclical view of time and narrative (another Eastern inspiration) contrasts with the traditional Western linear narrative. It gives the story a certain timelessness (are the characters dead or in a dream?). It also questions the meaning of life – why do we so desperately strive for goals when nature and time are cyclical? (see more on linear vs. cyclical time here).

Conclusion

The Red Turtle is a beautiful animation that on the surface is a story about a man stranded on a desert island. However, on further analysis, it’s subtle techniques and cyclical narrative reveal questions about the meaning of life and time. With only nature to keep you company, you find out who you really are.

The Fourth Man – Dutch Thriller Full of Symbolism

The Fourth Man Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

“I lie the truth, until I no longer know whether something did or did not happen.” Who can you trust in this psycho-thriller from Verhoeven.

From: Netherlands, Europe
Watch: Trailer, Buy on Amazon
Next: Oldboy, Who Killed Teddy Bear?, The Shining

Mi Vida – International Competition – SBIFF

In Mi Vida, a retired hairdresser’s life changes when she travels to Cadiz to take a language course. She falls in love with the city and the escape from her life at home. However, she has to decide between her dreams and her concerned family at home.

Mi Vida is a fairly conventional but enjoyable film about breaking free and following your dreams. Like Under the Tuscan Sun, Lou finds a romanticised Southern European life. Instead of a crumbling Tuscan house overlooking the valley, Lou finds a ‘humble’ rooftop apartment overlooking the cathedral. In the locals she easily finds a new best friend and has someone fall in love with her. She’s living the clichéd Southern European dream many Northern Europeans and North Americans have.

The opening is the only part of the film which breaks convention. Lou navigates her way from the airport to a cramped apartment organised by the language class. Her hosts are a young black family living in a cramped apartment – not the place you’d expect a white retired lady to be. She’s put up in a small room and shares a bathroom with the family – emphasised when the young boy walks into the bathroom whilst Lou is washing her hands. However, to the detriment of the film and in honour of convention, Lou makes up an excuse to leave the apartment and ends up at the clichéd dream rooftop terrace.

The filmmakers dangle this more interesting relationship between an old white lady and a poor black family led by a single mum in front of us, before saying we can’t see it and showing us a relationship between an old white lady and her middle aged Spanish teacher. Why hint at an interesting film before switching to something generic?