Bloody Mondays & Strawberry Pies (2008)

Directed by: Coco Schrijber | 85 minutes | documentary | Original voice cast: John Malkovich

“We are here on earth to mooch around and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.” This quote from Kurt Vonnegut underlies the basic idea of ​​Coco Schrijber’s documentary ‘Bloody Mondays & Strawberry Pies’. She likes to tackle more abstract topics in her documentaries to get people thinking. Her films have been awarded several times, such as her debut film ‘In Motion’ and the short film ‘Beautiful World’. It’s a big risk to make a documentary about people who are bored, because then don’t you run the risk that viewers will also get bored?

The documentary begins with a murderess. She shot randomly at elementary school kids on a Monday. The reason? It was Monday, and she was bored. She wanted to bring some life to the brewery. This statement immediately sets the tone. Is it really true that humans are actually bored? That we are all in a rut that we can’t get out of and that some people do crazy things because of it? Unfortunately, Coco Schrijber lets this fact go a bit and continues with interviews with a Wall Street trader, a youngster who works in a factory, a desert nomad, a painter and a spy. She asks them about their use of time, whether they are happy and whether they are bored.

If you immerse yourself in it, everyone will get bored from time to time, but is that a bad thing? Not if it doesn’t bother you and you’re just happy. The question is therefore whether we really need a documentary about people who are sometimes bored. Schrijber should have delved more deeply into the motive of the murderess with whom ‘Bloody Mondays & Strawberry Pies’ begins and ends. If boredom was really the only reason for her act, and you work that out in a movie, you’ve got yourself a hit topic.

It must be said that Schrijber has put together her documentary well. The voice of John Malkovich with statements from ‘Memories from the Underground’ and ‘American Psycho’ is perfectly chosen. These statements provide the common thread in the story and make people think. And that is what every documentary maker wants to achieve.

‘Bloody Mondays & Strawberry Pies’ is a good documentary, everything is right; the voice-over and the interviews, and the viewer is made to think. Yet it is just not interesting enough to keep watching for 85 minutes. The subject is perhaps too abstract, and then Schrijber’s quality works against her this time. Or would it be the intention that the viewer would also get bored while watching a film about boredom?