Alles is Liefde

I need to watch more Dutch movies.

Saturday night we watched a 'film', as they say on this side of the ditch. We did it in the kitchen. There aren't many wide-screen LCDs in the house, but they do have a projector that can be rigged up with a laptop. The kitchen is big and cozy and has a blank wall, so people just drag chairs in and you have your own little cinema. Nice.

The Dutch watch American everything - Amercan movies, American TV, etc. Usually with subtitles of course. But Saturday night they turned the tables on me. We watched a bona fide Dutch movie with English subtitles on!

The film is a very popular one here called Alles is Liefde (Love is Everything). It's a romantic comedy slash holiday film. I don't go in for the RomCom genre much, but this one was very charming and very Dutch, and besides it was shot in Amsterdam. The bridges, the houses, the canals, even the Dam Square were all very much in evidence. Why aren't more films shot in Amsterdam anyway? It's a gorgeous, historic city. You'd think Jason Bourne would drop by from time to time.

I digress.

Now, to understand the plot of this movie you have to understand that a Nederlands Christmas is a bit different from our Christmas. It happens at a different time and has its own mythology.

You see, Sinterklaas actually comes from Spain. And he arrives in November. On a steamboat! He then spends a couple weeks in town. During this time his helper(s), the Black Piets, fan out through the land putting presents in the slippers of deserving children. Bad children don't get coal - they get bagged and hauled off! All the festivities come to a head on December 5th, which is Sinterklaas' birthday. Then, presumably, he heads back to Spain to enjoy the winter in warmer climes.

Ja!

Anyway, Love is Everything is one of those complicated films about multiple, interconnected characters who each have their own subplot but whose stories occasionally intersect. One couple has separated after he had an affair with their child's schoolteacher. Another couple is together, but he's lost his job and hasn't told her yet. Then we have the girl who works the counter at the department store who falls in love with the prince, a gay couple having some relationship issues on the eve of their marriage (legal in The Netherlands since way back), and a drifter looking for the family he abandoned twenty years ago.

When the pompous actor who plays the part of Sinterklaas for the annual steamboat arrival dies of a heart attack minutes before he's scheduled to go on, the mysterious drifter is conscripted by a television crew to fill the bill. While the steamboat is pulling in, a little girl (belonging to the dad who has lost his job) falls into the water and he jumps in and saves her. Then he runs off, leaving the city in an uproar and beginning a chain of events that will affect the lives of each of our couples.

It's complicated, okay. But I've decided it's also a great way to learn Dutch.

I'd never really thought about it, but you know how you always hear about Europeans saying they learned English from watching American TV? It totally makes sense now. Watching a foreign film with subtitles is a triple threat as far as language aquisition goes. You're simulatneously hearing the pronunciation, seeing the translation, and learning from the context. Subtitles are just super helpful.

I've asked Sister Annemieke if people in the house could carry around small whiteboards and write out subtitles for what they are saying, but she says no dice.

Ah well.

Anyway, if you're looking for a film that's light, warm and very very Dutch, you should totally track down this flick. I'm sure Netflix has it. And don't watch the English dub - sit back and enjoy the subtitles.