Can Go Through Skin (2009)

Directed by: Esther Rots | 94 minutes | drama | Actors: Rifka Lodeizen, Mattijn Hartemink, Chris Borowski, Elisabeth van Nimwegen, Roel Goudsmit, Anita Donk, Hans Zuijdveld, Wim Opbrouck, Tina de Bruin

Hands tossing through grass, empty eyes, a dilapidated house, ominous sounds, enchanting music, cold to the bone: ‘Can go through the skin’ is the exciting directorial debut of Esther Rots. The viewer of this film written, directed, edited and produced by Rots is – just like the main character in the story – swept along, taken by surprise and overwhelmed. But also touched, inspired and entertained.

The film is about Marieke (Rifka Lodeizen), who tries to keep her head above water in a lonely battle against slowly going mad. At the beginning of the film, her boyfriend has just broken up (the first word we hear is “bastard!” ) and we see her in her apartment in Amsterdam. Then the intruder comes and her life changes even more. Marieke moves to a dilapidated house in Zeeland, where we see her walking around, crawling away, drinking wine, suffering the cold, painting walls blue, meeting the sober neighbor and fighting with memories.

Like the Dardenne brothers (‘Rosetta’, ‘Le silence de Lorna’), which she admires, Rots films her protagonist close to the skin and without explaining much. Yet ‘Can go through the skin’ is a different kind of film. The special thing about this film is that the story is not so much told in a narrative, but rather in an associative way. That is to say: the coherence between the images does not follow a fixed narrative structure, but is formed directly in our imagination. Watching the film is like experiencing a dream, in which strange fragments and images fit exactly into the story.

Because we cannot see the difference between what ‘really’ happens and what happens in Marieke’s delusions (does she really keep her assailant captive in the house?), her disorientation automatically becomes ours. As with ‘Rosetta’, an intimate portrait is created, but where we keep our distance from the Dardennes spectator, Esther Rots also makes us emotionally involved with Marieke.

This is largely due to the impressive music of composer, writer and (film) artist Dan Geesin. He made grinding, grinding, disturbing sounds, which support the images in a sensory way, but also very beautiful songs, sparingly administered at exactly the right moments.

There is a moment when the film goes off the rails for a while. That’s when Rock makes Marieke think out loud. Because we already follow her train of thought in her looks and behavior, it is strange when Marieke suddenly speaks out what she is thinking. (“Cunt, what am I hearing?”) As if Marieke’s fearful feelings send you back to a play about someone who is afraid. But fortunately the film, which is rock solid, does not suffer from it.

Lodeizen, who already clearly showed with her leading role in ‘Escort’ (2006) by Frans Ketelaar that she has everything to keep a film fascinated for a long time, Marieke’s change from tough Amsterdam girl to isolation and madness is subtle, pure and very credible. Almost as if she’s not playing it, but experiencing it. And we can all see that. And we all want to see it, because Rifka Lodeizen is someone you’ll want to watch for an hour and a half.

Esther Rots has already won many awards with her short films, two of which were screened in Cannes. Yet she remained relatively unknown in the Netherlands. ‘Can go through skin’ will undoubtedly change that. Hopefully her special way of making films will not change.