Talking about (2011)

Directed by: Rob Schröder, Gabrielle Provaas | 80 minutes | documentary

First there was the book, then the movie. In the documentary ‘Ouwehoeren’, the sisters Martine and Louise Fokkens talk about half a century of tendons in the Amsterdam Red Light District. As a 65-year-old, Martine still earns a living behind the window, Louise has now retired to an apartment in IJmuiden. Together they paint something, visit the places from their childhood, have a chat with the retired local police officer. For the enthusiast we see Martine at work, with high boots, pointy heels and an intriguing device with failing batteries.

The result is a documentary from the booklet. With a perfect alternation between present and past, between desolate sex and nostalgic photo collage, between silent painting and endless talking, between hilarity and greater hilarity. We meet Louise’s daughter, the local police officer and former colleagues. And everything ends with a festive gathering, a glass of champagne and a toast.

Yet. Sometimes you feel that something is missing from this documentary. You feel that most strongly in that one harrowing scene, when mother and daughter stand opposite each other, full of love but with a lot of apples to pick. Here you feel sadness, an old sore that is missing in the rest of the documentary.

What is also missing are questions that go a little deeper. How did the daughters deal with the fact that their mother was a whore, what was it like to have so much power over men, how do the ladies view sexuality in the first place, can you still enjoy sex if you are being treated by ten men a day? jumped, never fell in love with a customer, never got pregnant by accident and what did they do about it, did the parents know of their choice and what was their reaction?

Serious questions, but they don’t fit in this documentary that focuses on humor and putting things into perspective. Martine who talks about the blows she gives to a masochistic client, the ladies who lift their skirts in front of a passing tourist boat, itinerant evangelists who want to get Martine on the right path. It is all equally funny, all equally skillfully worked out and it produces a documentary that is always amusing. Predictably amusing, as you might expect from elderly prostitutes.