Wanderlust (2021)

Directed by: Coen Eigenraam, Jeroen van ‘t Hullenaar | 22 minutes | short film, fantasy, drama | Actors: Bas Keijzer, Julien Croiset

The short film ‘Dwaalgast’ is somewhere between a small-scale fantasy film and a fable about the ruthlessness of advancing time. Bas Keijzer plays a stammering man with a bowler hat from an uncertain time who once in a while visits a large country house surrounded by misty meadows. There he visits an old friend (Julien Croiset under thick make-up), named Reigerman, because he is neither a heron nor a man. Reigerman got a bit stuck in the change process. The two talk in vague terms about something that has been bothering the friends for a long time. Incidentally, the strange bird and the forgetful man with the bulbous hat must hurry up with the approach, because the latter is slowly dissolving into the big nothing.

‘Dwaalgast’ is a atmospheric short film with not only fictional elements but also authentic image fragments from a distant and archetypal Dutch past. As if ancient 15 millimeter films of an unknown Dutch family have been rustled somewhere. These film elements are subtly mixed together and create a pleasantly dreamy effect as a whole. In addition, the conversation between the two gentlemen is ragged, partly archaic and therefore sometimes difficult to follow. Although you don’t hear it on the soundtrack, ‘Dwaalgast’ still resembles a song by the Dutch music ensemble Spinvis most in tone and content. Just like with Spinvis’ music, you can fantasize away with ‘Dwaalgast’, see everything in it, like two beings looking back from the realm of the dead on something as fragile and elusive as the past.

‘Dwaalgast’ is a production that was probably shot with fairly limited financial resources. You can sometimes see that a little too well, but this also has its charm. It appears to have been contained in an old abandoned cellar housed with items from numerous flea markets. Here a sagging chair, there a piece of old paper, here loose cabinets and there some yellowed photos. All that old junk exudes an authentic and mysterious atmosphere. Moreover, there are a few funny editing tricks in ‘Dwaalgast’, which emphasize the upcoming oblivion. Nice to see these kinds of cinematic experiments, often more characteristic of short than full-length films.

Occasionally, the Heron Man and his disappearing friend are rather verbose and are portrayed statically, as if they were on stage. This is clearly for a reason, or at least a style that the two makers, Coen Eigenraam and Jeroen van ‘t Hullenaar, chose for ‘Dwaalgast’. While this works for such a short film, you can use it to throw your own windows into a longer production. It sometimes undermines the potential power of ‘Wanderer’, but on a larger scale this can quickly become monotonous.

All in all, ‘Dwaalgast’ is a brave attempt to inject more surrealism into Dutch films. The intimate film navigates between the artful films of Jean Cocteau, especially his serious work such as ‘Orphée’ (1950), and the more light-hearted films of Terry Gilliam, such as his older film ‘Time Bandits’ (1981). These are quite some names, but who knows, one day a great magical realistic film work will emerge from the Low Countries. In any case, there are plenty of Dutch and Flemish literary sources to draw on. The film style of the two young makers is so headstrong that it may well meet resistance in the Dutch film landscape, permeated with realism. Bring on that quirkiness!