Nema aviona za Zagreb
| Nema aviona za Zagreb | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Louis van Gasteren |
| Produced by | Joke Meerman |
| Written by | Louis van Gasteren |
| Screenplay by | Joke Meerman |
| Starring |
Timothy Leary Meher Baba |
| Music by | Mal Waldron |
| Cinematography | Jan de Bont |
| Edited by | llja Lammers |
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Production
company |
Spectrum Film
|
| Distributed by | Spectrum Film |
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Release date
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Running time
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82 minutes |
| Country | Netherlands |
| Language |
Dutch English |
Nema aviona za Zagreb (There Is No Plane to Zagreb) is a 2012 Dutch film by Louis van Gasteren. The film is a retrospective of events in the director's life from 1964 to 1969, filmed by him in that period and reflected on from his vantage point over 40 years later at the age of 90. It is also Jan de Bont's first film credit as cinematographer since 1992's Basic Instinct.
In 1964 van Gasteren decided to film all his movements, both outward and inner. He narrates early in the film, "I wanted to make a film about my memories, my observations and experiences. As a filmmaker, I can make that visible." Explaining his idea to his wife in the film, he says, "I want to show everything, because every observation I make fits in with that. Look Jacq, every step I take (he takes a deliberate step forward in the room) – also inwards (points to his chest) – everything I am involved in (gestures at the objects in the room)."
The film crisscrosses the globe. Countries the film is shot in include the Netherlands, Switzerland, England, Yugoslavia, France, Canada, West Germany, the United States, India, and Spain. The film mixes documentary with enacted scenes, and is shot in both color and black-and-white.
The film winds up being a journey of a man in search of truth, seeking to shed lies and illusions, as well as reconcile his relationships with human beings.
As the film opens, a ninety-year-old Louis van Gasteren—a documentary filmmaker and artist famed in the Netherlands—is seated in a video editing suite, watching scenes of himself in the 1960s, a time when "anything was possible." He reflects on how much he has changed, and that he is that same person and yet is not.
We then go back to 1964. Van Gasteren is touring a carnival with his second wife, Jacqueline, their baby girl Mardou, and two older children from his first marriage. The family rides the carousel and sees the sights, including a "Fat Lady" exhibit of a mother and daughter weighing 900 pounds.
From there Louis begins to recall his own youthful memories. His father, Louis van Gasteren, Sr., was a famous actor, and his mother, Elise Menagé Challa, was a singer who gave up the concert stage to promote Communism and traveled rural Spain to learn the songs of the peasants. We learn that his mother died by suicide a few months after his father’s death, and thoughts of his parents are with him every day.
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Wikipedia