Gold (2020)

Directed by: Rogier Hesp | 90 minutes | drama | Actors: David Wristers, Marcel Hensema, Loes Haverkort, Anna Tenta

Sometimes it is not useful to read a synopsis, because it spoilers. This is also the case with ‘Gold’, a linear film story about a seventeen-year-old gymnast (Timo, Wristers) who wants to become successful, who has to be told no by his embittered, handicapped father (Hensema), who is being cared for by Timo. He also falls in love with the physiotherapist Irene.

Logical: it’s Loes Haverkort. The press kit speaks of ‘heavy feelings’ and ‘coming of age’, but where is the dramatic tension? We have to wait a while for that. For example, where is Timo’s mother? And why don’t we see more of Hensema, the only ambiguous, even villainous character in the film?

There is reasonable acting in ‘Gold’, which can also be expected with Hensema and Haverkort. There is little to say about the debuting Wristers (a top gymnast in real life): he gets a lot of playing time and does well as the blue Timo. And the daughter of Irene the physio with the beautiful eyes is a funny girl. But what is this film really for?

A question that arises more often with Dutch films. A question that makers should ask themselves before the screenplay is finished and the much-needed financing has been arranged, although that one gem may be the reason for the entire Dutch film subsidy system. That gem we are still waiting for. Just like on the new Van Warmerdam: only the Messiah is waited longer, but this aside.

The technically skilled ‘Gold’ certainly has potential. Rogier Hesp is looking for an entrance in filling emotional emptiness. Timo and Loes have a shortage in their private lives that sport cannot compensate. A deficit that is mainly worked out at Timo. There is a promising scene in which the seventeen-year-old gymnast first gets into bed with the daughter, then with Irene. The intimate scene has something necessary, but it is not deepened enough.