Bloody Marie (2019)

Directed by: Lennert Hillege, Guido van Driel | 87 minutes | action, drama | Actors: Susanne Wolff, Dragos Bucur, Alexia Lestiboudois, Teun Luijkx, Jan Bijvoet, Therese Affolter, Mark Rietman, Kim Hertogs, Leny Breederveld, Dennis Rudge, Murth Mossel, Aart Staartjes, Valentijn Dhaenens, Martijn van der Veen, Anna Tenta, Sytske van der Ster, Fow Pyng Hu, Urmie Square, Jack Monkau

Comic artist Marie Wankelmut (Susanne Wolff) lives in the red light district of Amsterdam. She is addicted to alcohol and part of the nightlife in the dingy streets in her neighborhood. Marie is of German origin and lives on the success of her “graphic novel” ‘Porn for the Blind’, but she has not been able to produce any work for a long time. Her only companion is her dog Lieze, who faithfully accompanies her on her wanderings. She once lived in her house with her mother, but she died of alcohol abuse. At the beginning of ‘Bloody Marie’ she gives away her shoes to one Dragomir (Dragos Bucur), whom she meets in an alley, in exchange for a bottle of liquor. But that’s not the last thing she’ll see of Dragomir, when it turns out that he’s a criminal involved in the rampant trafficking of women in the Red Light District.

‘Bloody Marie’ is directed by a duo: Guido van Driel and Lennart Hillege. Van Driel was originally a cartoonist himself and Hillege his cameraman, for example in his first film ‘The Resurrection of a Bastard’. The two are excellent at capturing the atmosphere of the city in images: the neon lights, the filthy streets, the almost faceless crowd looking for entertainment in all kinds of forms. Marie sometimes literally stumbles her way through it, without a clear goal. The makers seem to be aiming for the same.

The film initially unfolds as a slow-paced character study, strongly portraying the slow decay of a lonely woman. Meeting a fan of her work, Oscar Doki (the Fleming Jan Bijvoet) makes it seem briefly as if something romantic could possibly blossom, but in the first half of the film Van Driel and Hillege can hardly be pinned down to a genre or even a clear structure where Marie (and the film) goes. But then suddenly things catch on fire and ‘Bloody Marie’ becomes a thriller in which Marie has to pull out all the stops to survive. The focus is entirely on the shady business that takes place right under her nose and in which she unintentionally plays a role. Events are underlined here and there with beautiful drawings that Marie makes of what she is experiencing. A good find.

What’s unfortunate is that the abrupt transition both pumps a dose of adrenaline into the veins, but at the same time also comes across as unbelievable. One minute Marie is barely able to take care of herself and get her life in order (let alone keep it) and the next she’s unyielding – and seems to have lost her addiction. It goes too fast and that takes you as a viewer out of the film.

Wolff acts excellently, without falling into clichéd excessive drunkenness, which you unfortunately see far too often in films. In small supporting roles we still see familiar faces such as Aart Staartjes as Marie’s demented neighbor, Roeland Fernhout and a filthy Mark Rietman as a sick underworld figure.