Bob and "The Girl"

Narrowly on the road to greatness

If Duska had ended after the first twenty minutes Jos Stelling’s latest effort would have been hailed as a cinematic masterpiece:  rich in style, discreet metaphors, nearly dialogue-free.

The unlikely hero’s birth on the bus (and possibly the ugliest newborn ever to be appreciated on the silver screen) is wunderbar—especially when his fellow passengers burst into song to celebrate the new life.  Cut to La Bohème and its portent of tragic death, while simultaneously meeting “Bob” (Gene Bervoets)—the retiring film critic—with an astonishing Alfred-Brendel countenance as he endlessly stares at a covey of Canadian flicks playing in the Luxor—a run-down multi-screen cinema conveniently situated across the street from his Amsterdam apartment.

But the real attraction for Bob is the seductive ticket girl.  Long looks of pent-up desire, the frustration of watching her motorbike boyfriend ride off with “The Girl’s” (Sylvia Hoeks) legs spread behind him every night after closing is a fantasy-killer of the worst kind.

But soon, he, coincidentally, is at the scene of his secret desire’s breakup and happily whisks her away to his flat with cheesy B-flick music oozing out of the car radio.

Finally, pointing at a dead chicken dangling from the rearview mirror, the first words in 15 minutes are spoken:  “What’s this?”

From that disappointment (hard to phathom any subtext/reason for the enforced wordlessness from such an inane line) the film loses its magical promise and merely lurches forward rather than flow with grand design and mysteries to come.

Just as Bob is about to reach second base with The Girl, the door bell rings—coitus interuptus of the worst kind—in the personage of Duska (Sergei Makovetsky)—now a mature man who only speaks Russian and had descended into Bob’s life to cure the perpetual loneliness of both.

Here too, the chance for greatness—perhaps Duska can take on Of Mice and Men (cross references below) depth even in his character’s simplicity (and witness the forest bunny adding verisimilitude—unintended or not) as Lennie did for his inseparable friend, George.

But, alas, we’re left with a stale—too-much-sugar-in-the-coffee gag (surely Stelling has seen this before) and a love/hate relationship as Bob tries to evict his friend and consummate his inborn passion for ticket takers.

Did we mention he’s also nearly finished a screenplay?  Clichés ‘R’ Us!

Still, for many with a taste for the unusual and a pace that never purports to hurry, a peek at Duska might just provide a happy respite from films that don’t know how to breathe.

Director	Jos Stelling
Writers	Jos Stelling, Hans Heesen
Producers	Hans De Weers, Hans De Wolf, Reinout Oerlemans
Original Music	Bart van de Lisdonk
Cinematography	Goert Giltay
Film Editor	Bert Rijkelijkhuizen
Main cast	Sylvia Hoeks, Gene Bervoets, Sergei Makovetsky

Cross-references:  Of Mice and Men - Stratford Festival 2007, Of Mice and Men - Studio Arena Theatre, Buffalo NY 2007