Fiskepark

I started watching the first, and perhaps also even the second, episode of "Fiskepark" without the intention of ever finishing it. I often do that, actually. I sense that I'm not going to like a certain show or series, but nevertheless watch the first episode, just so that I can't blame myself afterwards for not having tried. Moreover, it was another series where actors and TV-stars supposedly play themselves, and for some unfathomable reason I could never stand those. Happy to admit, however, that my opinion rapidly altered after witnessing how imaginative and clever the script was, and how brilliantly these famous people (in Flanders, that is) mock themselves and each other.

The plot revolves around Thomas De Soete, former radio star and talk show host on TV. His show got cancelled due to harsh criticism against his persona, which led to him leaving the showbusiness and founding his own production company in a remote nature's resort in East-Flanders. But De Soete quickly learns that all his famous "friends" are gone and that nobody is interested in working with him. Only two friends remained somewhat loyal, namely the Dutch comedian Jan-Jaap Van Der Wal and Belgian singer Bent Van Looy. "Fiskepark" opens with the discovery of Van Looy's corpse, viciously murdered with an axe in the head and his body hidden in a fishing pond on the domain of De Soete. Evidently, De Soete is prime suspect, because the relationship with one of his last friends also severely watered down, and especially because he attempts to run off during his arrest. Other notably suspects are interrogated, including two Bosnian brothers with an interest in expensive fish and a crazy Wica-mistress, but somehow everything always keeps leading back to De Soete.

What I truly appreciate in "Fiskepark" is how typically local-Flemish the situations, the settings, the characters and everything else are! It's mainly about people getting drunk at parties or barbecues, backstabbing each other, being hypocrite and talking badly about alleged friends and trying to weasel out of problems without damaging one's reputation. It may not be good publicity for my country, but that's pretty much how the people are in Flanders. The script is also quite harsh for the police system and the media, both national and regional, and particularly condemns how journalists are sensation-hunters and how quickly someone is guilty through the eye of a camera lens. I usually don't like actors/actresses playing themselves because it seems so forced and fake. That certainly isn't the case here, since everyone acts very natural and authentic. The actors who are playing a role are terrific as well, notably Vincenzo De Jonghe as the arrogant regional TV-reporter, Peter Smolders as the insecure police commissioner and Chris Nietveld as the curious lady next door. The denouement is random but great, the tune playing during the opening credits is nice and catchy and the editing is definitely one of the best I've ever seen on Belgian television.

Contrary to my fellow coutryman who did the other review, I did not finish the series but watched enough to have good reasons for it.

This is not the first parody of the "true ..." genre, nor will it be the last. In Flanders we've had the ultimate spoof reality series with "Het geslacht De Pauw", a perfect piece of satire made by Flanders' best scenarist who unfortunately also turns out to have taken the idea of womanizing way too far, a fake travelogue from the same author which I couldn't savour all that much and the godfather of fake reality television, "In de Gloria". So our small half-country has a tradition with the genre, even with the main actors playing themselves, so that it's hard to understand what's real.

While this balancing act was in perfect equilibrium in "Het Geslacht ... " and the public was already used to the idea, Thomas De Soete still manages to throw us off with the kind of manufactured self pity, centered around an alleged failure of his as a TV maker in a recent past, that makes you wonder if the self pity and indulgence isn't actually real.

I won't even try to summarize the plot as it doesn't really matter. Nothing is meant to be real in this bizarre story. That's rather clear from the start but still the series claims to play with reality. No it doesn't. Or was the intention to be funny? I didn't think it was for one moment. It was awkward from start to finish, or at least where I decided to end the experience.

The most symbolic scense are those where fellow media figures turn up to awkwardly admit to only be in as a favor to their friend, doubting if they're actually doing him a favor supporting this bound-to-be-a-failure. It's meant to be in jest but it feels embarrassingly real.

At best this is a piece of art in the tradtion of René Magritte and Belgian absurdism. At worst this is a total failure in the tradition of the Pak de Poen-show. It's memorable because it's so uncanny. I can see why people who like their humor on the absurd side, would be die hard fans of this. I can also see why the majority of people, including me, thinks this isn't funny or artistic, merely weird or cringeworthy.

This ambiguity makes me give 5 stars. Watch it at own risk.