The Bird Watcher (2020)

Directed by: Threes Anna | 89 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Freek de Jonge, Nick Golterman, Quiah Shilue, Sophie van Winden

Freek de Jonge as a lone birdwatcher on a Wadden island, it’s hard to imagine. In fact: it is a 100% match. The haggard look from behind jam jar glasses, the murmur of the sea, perhaps also the lack of a pointing finger. ‘The Bird Watcher’, a film about a character who has grown up with nature, is a good distillate by Freek.

Every word seems too much, this is a film that must be experienced in images of nature and mimicry. Be silent! Look! Watch Freek pull a bicycle wreck out of the sea and struggle with it. It is beautifully portrayed and looks like Sisyphoid labor. Freek as in ‘De Illusionist’ by Alex van Warmerdam, supplemented with the mildness of the years. His first and perhaps last leading role in a feature film, respectively.

Freek the bird watcher is an autarkically living man, with a visible love for things and animals. He fixes a broken arm himself, and has the mail from the civilized world read aloud over the telephone. More depth could have been found in many ways – questions of meaning enough. On the other hand, it is not necessary, given the strong Freek content.

The bird keeper in question will have to deal with the termination of his job after 45 years, a cutback measure. They’re coming to pick him up. The makers choose the English language for reasons not explained further – the island has an English name; on the other hand, communication with the outside world is conducted in Dutch.

This bird of paradise, living in a kind of Palais Idéal made of wreckage and jerry cans, does not want to return – also imaginable. Perhaps a little too predictable – just like the soundtrack, which smoothly guides the viewer through the film. But there is always Freek; Freek keeps it credible, because ‘The bird watcher’ is Freek. And Freek belongs to Holland like a windbreaker to the sea.