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What To Watch Thursday is Overdose’s weekly film injection: every Thursday we will tell you which cinematographic pearls can’t be missed! We’re going native for this one …
Supernova
Anticipation: This is the first Dutch film in quite a while to really grab my attention. It’s quite clear from the trailer what the story is about, it’s about nothing: “Hier is niets … Ik haat niets.” But this didn’t seem to put me off. The photography, atmospheric music and beautifully cadenced voice of the lead actress were interesting enough. The female director, Tamar van den Dop (also an award-winning actress), has been marked out for her original work behind the camera although this is only her second feature film.
Appreciation: First of all a disclaimer: my Dutch is not perfect and there were no English subtitles so although there’s not a huge amount of dialogue in the film I might have missed some of the film’s subtleties. This much, though, I got: Meis (Gaite Jansen) is stuck in the Dutch countryside with the rest of her family, in a house dangerously positioned at the bend of a road. She is waiting for another car to crash into their lives, and for a ‘Brad’ of some kind to come and seduce her. And although there’s that storyline and there’s a crash, and a ‘Brad’ does come into her life, for me the heart of the film is the series of morbid reflections Meis has, and the way in which she explores her emerging sexuality. In this way it reminded me of the recent British film, Shell.
Although Supernova is a Dutch film, apart from the language it really doesn’t seem like it. There’s an Americana feel throughout; from the golden sunlit days to the country and western soundtrack, not to mention the cowboy boots Meis never seems to take off. You need to know it’s an incredibly slow film and deliberately so – be warned, many will find it far too slow for their liking.
Supernova
Length: 90 min
Verdict: ★★★ – A study in boredom
Where to see: Café 16cc, EYE film museum, Het Ketelhuis
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