Festival to highlight Dutch cinematic touch
By Andy Etzkorn
April 7, 2004 9:00 p.m.
Americans may be familiar with films from countries like France,
Germany and Italy, but the UCLA Film and Television Archive hopes
to show that other nations also have thriving film communities.
The Archive will present a new festival titled “The Human
Dutch: Films From the Netherlands,” beginning tonight and
running through the end of April. The festival will showcase films
from the Netherlands that have not garnered much attention
stateside, ranging from the 1930s’ “Seamen’s
Wives” to Hollywood director Paul Verhoeven’s
“The Fourth Man.”
The films show a range of well-known Dutch directors like
Verhoeven to lesser-known filmmakers who have yet to make a name
for themselves in the United States.
“The reason that movies from the Dutch aren’t
popular is the same reason going to Holland isn’t as popular
to people,” said Andrea Alsburg, co-head of programming at
the Archive. “People (in the United States) are more familiar
with France, Italy and Germany.”
Dutch filmmakers actually use their lack of commercial appeal to
their advantage. With films in the Netherlands not demanding a high
commercial value, filmmakers are allowed to take risks and
experiment in their films in a way American filmmakers could never
dream of. It has become a staple of Dutch filmmaking.
“The films make a point of addressing some very
complicated social issues directly,” said Ellen Harrington,
special events programmer for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences. “(The films) deal very directly with certain
things that Hollywood films wouldn’t.”
Alsburg echoed Harrington’s feelings that the lack of
commercialization of Dutch films gives them a distinct cultural
advantage.
“(The filmmakers) can take more chances simply because
they can fly more under the radar,” she said. “They can
simply get away with more and don’t have their eye on making
money.”
While most Dutch filmmakers are unknown in the United States,
some students may be familiar with Verhoeven, who directed
“RoboCop,” “Total Recall” and the infamous
“Showgirls.” Still, his roots are grounded in Dutch
cinema. Verhoeven’s use of extreme violence and graphic
nudity in his Hollywood films show his Dutch influence on taking
chances with filmmaking.
“The fact that (Verhoeven’s) films have done well
shows that there are elements of Dutch cinema being discovered in
the United States,” said Harrington.
With a Dutch film festival coming to the Los Angeles area,
Harrington feels that the United States will finally get a chance
to see a much-overlooked form of cinema.
“(The United States) has finally tapped into a cinema that
is very vibrant,” she said.
“(The Dutch) are always trying to present film from all
perspectives. It is good cinema to look at as far as what people
are doing and how they can do great things with cinema with very
little money.”
