Jasperina: on a lonely height (2019)

Directed by: Simone de Vries | 86 minutes | documentary | With: Jasperina de Jong

At the top of the ladder
On a lonely height
At the top of the ladder
What an existence
At the top of the ladder
me, on my own
What a wonderful job*

A more appropriate title could not have been chosen for this documentary about the life and career of Jasperina de Jong: on a lonely height. Because yes, you can conclude that after seeing the images that documentary maker Simone de Vries of this ‘genuine artist’, as a journalist wrote in the newspaper under her photo after her first performance in the ensemble Lurelei. Jasperina de Jong (1938) belonged to the top of the Dutch theater world for many years. In addition, the song from which the sentence originates has been decisive for her career, especially in the early years of her marriage to Eric Autumn.

I never had a good choice
Choosing is losing half
And so I have a job and a family
With my home worries
Soup for later and bread for tomorrow
And my work at the stage – that cuts in
Who am I related to now?
To my husband, my son, my daughter
Or to a thousand strangers in a hall in Goes
The princess of the theater
Going home and a little later
Is the Sleeping Beauty already Cinderella again
Is the diva with the paste on her cheeks
to be wallpapered*

With the help of a lot of – carefully selected – archive footage of performances and interviews and photos, we get a clear picture of the career of this talented comedian, who couldn’t sit still for a moment, not even in class, as we hear from a teacher. The energy that Jasperina radiates is infectious and the great lyrics (mostly written by Guus Vleugel, later by Ivo de Wijs) are still rock solid.

But what makes ‘Jasperina: on a lonely height’ so strong and distinguishes it from the standard biographical documentary, are the short visits to Jasperina as she is now. She has aged with dignity and is just as beautiful as when she first appeared on stage, but above all thanks to the wonderful sobriety with which she looks back on her life. When she opens a box with scrapbooks in front of the camera, you immediately see that she really hasn’t looked at this in years, in fact, maybe never. Jasperina is no longer the diva she used to be on stage, but someone who looks back on her life with satisfaction and enjoys her old age. She can also be proud of this beautiful documentary by Simone de Vries.