Joy (2010)

Directed by: Mijke de Jong | 80 minutes | drama | Actors: Samira Maas, Coosje Smid, Dragan Bakema, Sharon Schouten, Elisabeth Hesemans, Lisette Livingstone, Dalorim Wartes, Kuno Bakker, Kuno Bakker, Has Drijver, Olga Louzgina, Naima El Bezaz, Fred Goessens

With the art-house drama ‘Joy’, director Mijke de Jong completes her trilogy about young people with spiritual growing pains. The first two parts were awarded. ‘Bluebird’, about a victim of bullying, won a Crystal Bear in Berlin. Successor ‘Katia’s sister’, about an adolescent in a dysfunctional family, was good for two Golden Calves. So that creates expectations for number three.

In ‘Joy’ we meet an eighteen-year-old kitchen helper who goes through life rebellious and sullen, feigns indifference and is angry at everything and everyone. Beneath that grumpy exterior hides an insecure post-adolescent who is looking for love, recognition and a warm nest. As a baby not wanted and literally thrown out on the street, Joy wants to know where she comes from and why she is not wanted. Only then can she continue.

This quest has been filmed in a documentary style that fits the Dutch arthouse of 2010, but which also seems to be influenced by kitchen sink directors such as Ken Loach and Mike Leigh. With the work of these great masters, ‘Joy’ shares the hyper-realistic decor and the quasi-nonchalant camera work, but also the petulant folk humor and the wisdom of the street. We owe the latter mainly to Joy’s heavily pregnant friend Denise, who knows how to handle everything (except herself, her boyfriend and the rest of the world).

While in English kitchen sink dramas the main characters are usually talking, ‘Joy’ has to rely on meaningful images. And of detail. If you want to know the main character, look at her expressive face, the defensive hands, the cardboard box with precious things, the necklace around her neck, her lips practicing phrases she will never say. And by observing, you automatically lose your heart to this beautiful grumpy ass, who wants everything but has no idea how. Just like you lost your heart to Mia before in the related British gem ‘Fish Tank’.

‘Joy’ has become a subtle and moving final part of a successful trilogy. Aided by the strong playing of debutante Samira Maas and by an atmospheric soundtrack that complements what we see and fills in what we don’t (anxious beating heart, hurried breathing), this is yet another fine Dutch arthouse production of the early 21st century. It would make you a patriot.