Chez nous

Seen at the Rotterdam film festival 2017 (website: www.iffr.com/en), where it was part of the Big Screen Award competition. It is a documentary in the good sense of the word, showcasing all sides and pro/con arguments, in a dramatized way, such that we can remember all the relevant issues better. Nevertheless, it still offers edible human drama and a consistent story line.

At the same time we obtain an insightful picture how difficult it is to keep your hands clean when getting involved in politics, and how sneaky it can happen that you alienate family and friends by taking a stance where nuances are bound to get lost in translation. This is especially the case when the party line takes over, needed some of the time in the interest of the greater good (they say), and to keep their long-term goals upright (they say). A candidate running for office may thus seem to change into a mere puppet on a string, hiding her own opinion where that may differ from the official program of the party she represents.

What we also see here are the side effects on her family and relationships. None of them are prepared to be thoroughly screened. Most notable are the cases of her father, who was a former communist, and her lover who is (in secret) a member of sort of a "security force" (mind the quotes). Her children are forewarned that remarks against their mother are bound to be made, and that they better ignore them. Also, while still working as a nurse before she was elected and loved by everyone, she suddenly was not welcome anymore in some of the areas where she worked before.

All the different plot lines are mixed together and combine splendidly into the overall story. Her daily work as a nurse is portrayed very well too, also showing how things change after her face appeared on TV and she became sort of tainted. Of course, nothing of what is presented in this movie is new or unexpected, but the showcase is still interesting and remains relevant nowadays. I like this category of documentaries, much better than the ones where a scholarly voice-over tells us what we should think.

All in all, a good overview of pro/con arguments around "Our land first" issues in combination with hatred against all foreign elements, be it fugitives from abroad, people with a different (non-Christian) religion, or any lifestyle out of the ordinary. I gave the maximum score 5 for the audience award when leaving the venue, as many others must have done, because it ranked 19th (out of 172 movies) with an average score of 4.306 (out or 5).