Framed to Perfection III

FERIENGEWITTER (1989)

Director: Karola Hattop

Cinematographer: Peter Süring

The years I spent as a kid living on the border between the Netherlands and Germany (I would literally wake up in Holland and go to school in Germany) clearly left a lasting impression on my psyche. I mean, I certainly don’t feel at home in England anymore. Apparently, I used to be able to speak Dutch and German fluently when I was little, as evidenced by my parents regularly taking me out on shopping trips simply so I could translate, should strangers approach them in dire straits. I can’t remember much of it now sadly, although I am casually trying to learn.

Regionally appropriate music and films help, which is why they have become my “happy place”. Not only am I slowly picking up the language again, but I can fade away from the place I physically find myself stranded.

Ah denial, where would we be without it?!

Thanks to modern media, I can now immerse myself in other cultures much easier than one used to. Simply put, me and my private school chums no longer need to invade a country and subjugate its peoples just to learn about it.

Feriengewitter appears to be a film about an estranged couple who go on holiday with their only child, in a sincere attempt to patch up their relationship. At least, I think that’s what it’s about. There’s no English dub or subtitles available, and I quite frankly don’t care to trawl the internet to find an awkwardly cobbled together synopsis by some clueless idiot. Cough. Anyway, whilst there, the couple’s son befriends a rebellious local girl, who ends up helping him through his domestic angst.

In a very dated moment, the film shows the girl brazenly smoking in public, which is gloriously unpolitically correct. Bless the 80s and Europe! They didn’t give no fucks about nothing.

Well, the shot I’ve selected reminds me of one of my all-time favourite paintings, that being The Girl in a Picture Frame by Rembrandt, surely the inspiration for The Ring. This shot from Feriengewitter is beautifully stark, combining geometric shapes contrasting nicely with the two living beings in the centre. Within the film’s story, it’s early in the morning and two mammals greet to silently discuss the possible events of the day ahead.

I would push to say there are flickers of Edward Hopper and Stanley Kubrick’s framing here, but that is perhaps going a little far. Or is it?! Plus, hey, there are no horrifying (Wendy) torrents of blood immersing everything in sight. Aww, now I’m missing Shelley Duvall!

I hope this new blog series finds you all well. I haven’t discussed why I’ve actually begun doing it, as I assumed this fact would be quite apparent enough. I certainly don’t need to laboriously write an entire paragraph explaining why I’m describing something that should really speak for itself. Can you imagine me doing that?! What a waste of your time! I’d unsubscribe and block me and be outraged in the exhausting manner in which people seem to have become accustomed nowadays.

Do stay in touch, darlings.

Toodles!

P.S. I have no idea whether or not the boy’s parents get together in the end, although they seem happy enough strolling off together as the credits roll.