Thirst (2018)

Directed by: Saskia Diesing | 95 minutes | comedy, drama | Actors: Elise van ‘t Laar, Patrick Stoof, Margot Ros, Stefan de Walle, Fabian Jansen, Leopold Witte, Kiefer Zwart, Simone Kleinsma, Guy Clemens, René Groothof, Jung Sun den Hollander, Bart Harder, Ottolien Boeschoten, Merijn de Jong , Sean Dahnan

Saskia Diesing and Esther Gerritsen wrote the screenplay for the Golden Calf award winning coming of age film ‘Nena’ (2014). They had to wait for a renewed collaboration, perhaps based on a novel by Gerritsen. Well, ‘Thirst’ it has become. Once again Diesing and Gerritsen, both from 1972, have taken their youth as their starting point, a time of colorful wooden toys and My First Sony. Diesing has an excellent sense of atmospheric drawing and the mise en scene is fine; there is something about a mother who leaves a small child alone, but then a big time jump is made and the fourth wall is broken.

Doesn’t matter, unless the character first comes into view and immediately says ‘I’m going to die’ to the viewer. After a few minutes we know that this is Coco’s mother, and that this cheerful young lady (Elise van ‘t Laar) seizes the situation of the terminal Elisabeth (Simone Kleinsma) to move in with her again. She decides this at the beginning of the film during a dinner, where the viewer has to figure out who the table companions are. That’s how it is: Leopold Witte is also at the table and he is from the same age category as dinner companion Stefan de Walle. This one is, we conclude from the conversation, an educator in Coco’s life and then Margôt Ros must be the stepmother.

Before we know it all, the first Nedsex has already been consumed, and it is functionally naked: because Witte is on top of Van ‘t Laar, we know with a near certainty that he is not her father. Or the reviewer must be stupid, but this aside. In short, the narration leaves much to be desired, a well-known shortcoming in Dutch novel adaptations. After all, speed has to be made and the viewer does not have to think too much, because there is a wide audience on paper. What is sometimes forgotten is that people who visit such a film have probably also read the novel or feel like it, and you should not withdraw it like Jip or Janneke, but emotionally seduce it with images.

At Diesing you have the feeling that that is always a part of it, but that it is not allowed. In ‘Thirst’ she is more of a camerawoman than a director; although the staging is extremely atmospheric, the viewer is lulled to sleep by the slow action and the light tone. And then, and then, and then…not much happened. The Dutch have sex and go to the hairdresser, an anthropologist will think. It is distressing, because the emotion can be delivered by the actors. De Walle and Witte have the expertise to deliver from a rest position, Van ‘t Laar not yet, although she makes a fresh impression like the superficial Coco. Mother’s fate affects us more; the convincing Kleinsma is the only one who taps into a deeper layer. More is needed for a good film. Or less.