Everything of Value (2011)

Directed by: Frans Bromet | 90 minutes | documentary

It is not easy for the Dutch citizen in 2012. Calling a large company first struggles through an endless menu of options; who is sick at home gets three carers at his bedside with three different tasks; small-scale education only exists in the dreams of the last idealistic teacher. And then there are the managers, who make decisions without knowing what is going on at the foot of their ivory tower.

Filmmaker and grumbler Frans Bromet couldn’t bear it any longer, and went out with camera and daughter to see where scaling up and management culture come from and what can be done about it. Daughter Laura is a councilor and policy officer of Groen Links, and unlike father Frans, she still has hope for the future.

The result is a documentary that is always entertaining, but not always convincing. We see a desperate dentist who has become unreachable by phone by the genius bunglers of her telephone company. We follow a nurse who is allowed to nurse but has to leave other caring tasks to colleagues. It’s harrowing, but it’s still a bit of that observation.

It is also less about deepening the management culture than about portraying the slippery management type. In ‘Alles vanwaarde’ we find a fine example of this: the vain manager of a construction project in Leiden, who uses a running gag to try to find out what his mega project has cost.

Beneath this layer of everyday misery, there is an interesting question: what can you as a citizen offer in response to this misery? That question produces the best scenes, when father and daughter bicker as only members of a close-knit family can. It annoys Laura that Frans only grumbles and never rolls up his sleeves. For Laura, the improvement of the world starts in her own environment, if only as a zealot for a cycle path through the meadows.

The greatest charm of this documentary, meanwhile, has nothing to do with management culture or economies of scale. ‘Everything of value’ is above all a film about a father’s unconditional love for his daughter. The paternal pride and admiration drips off the screen, without being sentimental or boastful. And there is immediately hidden an optimistic message in that portrayal: whoever sees the energy and optimism of Bromet Jr. can hardly help but believe in a better future. Preferably without managers.