Polyp (2018)

Directed by: David Eilander | 11 minutes | short film, drama | Actors: Maas Bronkhuyzen, Mads Wittermans, Hailey Ruiter, Rian Gerritsen, Momo Samwel, Florian Regtien, Maurice Vonk, Ben de Boef, Thijs Feldberg, Angela Reijnders

NTR Short! is a wonderful springboard for young Dutch film talent. One of those talents is David Eilander. He got the love for filmmaking from an early age; his mother is director Mijke de Jong (‘Layla M.’, 2016) and his father is scriptwriter and documentary maker Jan Eilander (‘Rock ‘n Roll Junkie’, 1996 and ‘André Hazes: She believes in me’, 1999). “When I’m out of school and allowed to mingle with the big bad outside world, I hope to make films that tell a story about our society”, he wrote a few years ago on the site of the Film Academy Amsterdam. “I would like people to think about how we interact with each other and with the world, without delivering a pamphleteer product.” In 2016, Eilander graduated with the short film ‘Op Zuid’, about two friends who had lost touch and now meet again. He also shot commercials and video clips. For NTR Kort, Eilander made the ten-minute film ‘Polyp’ (2018), which focuses on an adolescent who has difficulty saying goodbye to the past.

The ‘Polyp’ from the title is not a bump on someone’s vocal cords, but a popular fairground attraction that is also popularly called ‘spider’ or ‘octopus’. The attraction symbolizes the childhood of fifteen-year-old Djarno (Maas Bronkhuyzen), a boy who grew up at the fair and has not lived with his family for some time now (why is not entirely clear, but probably because of school). Because of the birthday of his sister (Hailey Ruiter) he comes ‘home’ to his parents (Mads Wittermans and Rian Gerritsen) for a few days. However, he is not very cheerful and pleasant. Could it have to do with the fact that his father sold the Polyp? From one moment to the next his mood changes like a leaf on a tree. Fifteen isn’t an easy age anyway, but Djarno also struggles with the idea that life as he always knew it will soon be a thing of the past. He cannot and will not share his conflicting feelings and instead puts up his spines. Behind that angry, rebellious attitude, however, hides a lot of uncertainty, discomfort and fear of the new times to come.

‘A child’s smile makes you realize that you are alive, the smile of a child who still has a life ahead of it’, the voice of Djarno’s father echoes through the loudspeakers. Karaoke is sung for his daughter’s birthday party, but the fact that the lyrics apply to his son speaks volumes. Eilander is close to his protagonist, so that the viewer comes as close as possible to him and his feelings and experience. We see the fear in his eyes, fear to say goodbye to the familiar and to face a future where nothing is certain. We see a child who has a life ahead of him, but can’t yet imagine it and therefore kicks and punches sullenly. Sometimes literally, when he is treated unfairly by a group of peers who call him a ‘pussy gypsy’, but more often figuratively. Only in the dark does he dare to be vulnerable, whispering to his sister. Djarno is a fascinating character, which Eilander and screenwriter Ashar Medina should have made a longer film so that we could get to know him better. On the other hand, it is to their credit that in just ten minutes we already have a nice picture of the struggle the boy has to face.

‘Polyp’ is a fine example of ‘coming-of-age’ in which the world of the fairground operators is portrayed in a warm and credible way thanks to a balanced combination of sound, image and use of color. We would like to see more of the young Djarno to fully gauge him, but his situation is recognizable to anyone who has ever been fifteen.