De Omweg (Detour)
©Sigma Pictures
photo courtesy RCV Distribution BV
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Farmers, goats, and a woman looking for answers are central to the plot of the latest
Dutch film directed by Frouke Fokkema. Joanna De Vries (Tamar van den Dop) may
have been content with her down-to-earth farmer friend, but the minute she gets
pregnant, he drops her like a field potato. Alone, forlorn, and without a place to live,
she seeks comfort at the local woman's shelter where residents garden topless and
sometimes spout vengeful thoughts about men. Quickly convinced that this is not the
proper environment for an unborn child, she returns to the home of her parents, Johan
and Lousy (Jan DeCleir and Willeke van Ammelrooy), only to be confronted with the
icy atmosphere she had escaped from some time earlier. Mom was never equipped
to raise children. Dad, an icon salesman, is as much a loner as Joanna. Where to
go? A miscarriage means she'll be travelling the further road completely alone.
Impressed by a performance of Thomas Bernhard's play "Minetti" she is induced
afterwards by the actor Luc de Koning (Peer Mascini) to familiarize herself with all of
the author's writings. Meeting herder Camille Kleber (Thom Hoffman) at the same
bohemian theatre-café, she is invited to come and care for his goats. Joanna, having
a strong attraction for the countryside as well as farmers, decides to take him up on
this offer after contacting him again. On the way to his homestead, however, she
decides to take a detour and further pursue the writer Bernhard (Joachim Bissmeier).
She had already sent him a letter from Rotterdam (Upon its arrival Bernhard remarks
to his endlessly toiling maidservant, "Rotterdam. That was the hell of my youth.")
Joanna becomes increasingly fascinated by the words and thoughts of the Austrian
philosopher. She feels a deep affinity with him inasmuch as they share a similar
nihilistic perspective on life. Their meetings are awkward and confrontational.
Nevertheless, despite his eccentric and antisocial behavior (which includes abrupt
conversational changes, sharply insulting remarks, and a fetishism for socks)
Joanna becomes totally captivated. Yes, Joanna is a Bernhard-stalker. (She
eventually gets a chance to fondle a pair of Moroccan socks he wears before the film
ends.)
De Omweg (Detour)
©Sigma Pictures
photo courtesy RCV Distribution BV
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During her devout pilgrimage in search of answers, it becomes apparent that Joanna
has a masochistic attraction to the wrong kind of man. Based upon personal
experiences and three meetings with the real Thomas Bernhard, one can only
wonder what actual truths might lie behind the story. Joanna has her own phallic
moments, wandering between flayed goat heads and attacking a man with a
pitchfork, but nothing seems to get resolved.
Tamar van den Dop appears to seize the main character in a non-developmental line.
Whether she was confronted with unreasonable and unrealizable demands as a
result of the director/author's proximity to the actual events or felt that her large,
beautiful eyes and attitude of innocence would prove sufficient for the character
remains an enigma. (A camcorder documentary about the making of the film
compiled by the actress reveals some interesting aspects about both herself and the
director.)
Good scenery nicely photographed.
"Thoughts of suicide are always there. Would you like a cider or a Dutch gin?"
It's enough to make you tear your delphiniums apart.
Joanna says "When I'm in the country, I want to be in the city and when I'm in the city
I want to be in the country." Why not trying reading Bernhard instead?
© 1994-2006 The Green Hartnett
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