Everything Flows (2009)

Directed by: Danyael Sugawara | 100 minutes | drama | Actors: Anneke Blok, Wieger Windhorst, Ronald Top, Lidewij Mahler, Marnie Blok, Evert van der Meulen, Ben van ‘t Oever, Luc van ‘t Oever, Manuel Boekman, Juliann Ubbergen, Tine Joustra, Abe Dijkman, Dionne Honing

‘Everything flows’ starts with the festive news that son Damiaan (Wieger Windhorst) has passed his final exams. He celebrates this together with his mother Aleid (Anneke Blok) and a number of family members and friends. Mother and son have a very close relationship, Damian’s father has passed away. Mea, Aleid’s sister, brings an acquaintance to the party, intended to ‘pair’ Aleid. It quickly clicks between Aleid and Roel (Ronald Top). Roel is a barge skipper and has an adventurous past with a quick chat. Love blossoms quickly and Aleid is so absorbed in this that due to her frequent absences she hardly notices that Damien is leaving home. When Aleid then moves in with Roel on the ship, the relationship between mother and son deteriorates. They don’t have much contact anymore and their lives barely touch. The once close mother-son relationship is under great pressure.

Damien goes to live in a squat. On board the ship, Aleid encounters the classic problem of the difficult acceptance of the new partner by the children from Roel’s former marriage. Roel’s children are a constant source of annoyance to her. Life on board a ship, where you are always on top of each other, brings with it the necessary tensions and irritations. For Damiaan, the independent life is also very different from what he had imagined. He falls in love with a girl from the squat, but is very disappointed when the girl leaves for a long trip with another friend. He retires to his room and is so disappointed that he also ‘forgets’ his promise to his mother to come and celebrate her birthday.

Because Damiaan wants to reconnect with his mother, he goes with her to Antwerp for a weekend. There, Aleid is constantly called by Roel with all kinds of questions. Damien and Aleid get into an argument and the effect is that their relationship has grown even further apart. Can the previously strong mother-son bond still overcome this love-induced conflict?

The film revolves around two main characters, Aleid and Damien. The role of Roel is much less central in the story. Anneke Blok, who won a Golden Calf in 2008 for her role in ‘Tiramisu’, is once again in good shape. The portrayal of, on the one hand, a woman with a strong personality, but also a clearly vulnerable side, and the mother who is simply worried about her son is convincing. The other leading role is played by Wieger Windhorst , who has his first important role here . His role of the somewhat rebellious, but at the same time also looking for nest warmth, just between an adolescent and young adult, is well portrayed. His innocence and fragility is well illustrated. Ronald Top’s play as Roelof is adequate, but the scenario surrounding his role assignment does contain some clichés. He makes several arrangements for long vacations with his children from his previous marriage, without involving his new partner Aleid.

Will everything stay the same or not? The old proverb ‘Panta Rhei’ (=Everything flows) and also the name of Roel’s ship can be an indication.

The photographically strongly chosen locations of the bustling Amsterdam port area, in combination with the use of a number of buildings from the squatters’ movement, make the visual story an attractive whole. The editing is ‘contemporary’ quickly cut with relatively short scenes. The story is light-hearted and entertaining, but also fascinating because of the constant tension between a mother and son, also because love for another person is at stake. It is subtly shown that people who love each other very much, can also hurt each other consciously and unconsciously.