Leaves (2012)

Directed by: Jan-Jaap Kuiper | 16 minutes | short movie

Now that you can say that the people who consciously experienced the First World War have already largely died, the realization arises that the number of people of the generation who can tell stories from their own experience about what they experienced in the Second World War is also within reach. will be greatly reduced in the foreseeable future. A nasty thought, not to mention personal involvement with that group of people, but also because of keeping the memory alive. Fortunately, there are institutions in the Netherlands for this, such as the National Committee for 4 and 5 May, which ensures that the horrors of the Second World War are not forgotten and that we remain grateful for the course of history. It’s also nice that there are people who are inspired by first-hand stories and then incorporate that into art in their own way. For example, filmmaker Jan Jaap Kuiper (‘Pjotr ​​– Letters from the Gulag’, ‘Sinner’s Disease’) was prompted to make the short film ‘Verlaat’ by his grandfather, Jan Bartelds. Grandpa Bartelds told ten-year-old Jan Jaap about an exciting, rather frightening event from his early years during the Second World War. The effect this story had on the film maker was great: he was left with bad dreams, in which he saw his grandfather’s adventure depicted in his own unique way.

That story, about that the forbidden cargo, hidden under the cargo that Jan Jaap’s grandfather was transporting for the Germans, was almost discovered by a few German soldiers, is the basis of ‘Verlaat’ (“verlaat” is another word for lock). The filmmaker has chosen to approach the story from his own experience: it is therefore not a reconstruction of the event, but a dreamy imagination of how history has formed in his memory. ‘Abandoned’ is therefore not always cohesive, but the director still manages to make it a fascinating whole, precisely because the sometimes nightmarish images are so recognizably nightmarish. The alienating soundtrack supports the images perfectly. The fear of the young Jan Bartelds (17 at the time of the event) and that of the aspiring film director thus becomes very real for the viewer. It makes ‘Verlaat’ an impressive short film, which clearly shows the craftsmanship of the maker. An important film too, which hopefully will contribute to preserving the memories of the Second World War.