ABOVE THE MOUNTAINS

Year:
1992
Length:
107 minutes

Logline:
Six people are about to undertake a journey by foot from the very north of the Netherlands to the very south, in search of the mountains. Only two of them reach the destination.

Synopsis:
Six people are about to undertake a journey by foot from the very north of the Netherlands to the very south, in search of the mountains. On the day they are due to leave, everything goes wrong: Vincent and his wife Helen will only be able to join the others a few days later. For JP -aged 18, the youngest in the party and a great admirer of Vincent- this is reason enough not to want to go along. However, grumbling and reluctant, he sets out with the rest. Stephan is with Nel. They have been together for years, but the backbone of their relationship is formed by quarrels and misunderstandings. Rina goes along as a friend of Nel. She is a singer, but doesn’t want to sing anymore. During a performance of Dido & Aeneas, she becomes so confused that she dries up just before embarking on the final aria in which Dido serenades her own death. The four set out in the hope that Vincent and Helen will soon join them.
A day later than agreed, Vincent turns up with Helen, who has never spent a night under canvas and is undertaking a hike like this for the first time. Vincent immediately takes over as leader of the group, a role he obviously played in the past with Stephan and the others. He has also always been an example of success to JP. Vincent makes cautious attempts to approach Rina, and then with less caution once his wife Helen is the first to give up. She is not up to the physical exertion required. Nel is the only one consistently sceptical of Vincent.
Everything changes as they cross the rural area where Rina had spent her youth. Rima manages to suppress the past, which continuously bothers her with confusing images, by taking the path of her reminiscences. It marks a fresh start for her.
Vincent however is afflicted by increasing restlessness. During a terrible thunder storm, he puts into practice his philosophical thesis that egoism is the only principle with any validity. The apparent winner, he turns out to be the loser and eventually he has no alternative but to leave.
Stephan, Nel, Rina and JP continue on their journey, which becomes increasingly strange, freed from the ordinary everyday world. A journey through a no-man’s-land without time. When Stephan and Nel find a way of loving each other again, they no longer have any need to reach their destination. JP and Rina -the weakest and most vulnerable of the group- are the only ones to continue. In the end they climb the highest peak in the deepest south. Only then Rina feel like singing again.

Cast:
Roos Blaauwboer (Neeltje)
Catherine ten Bruggencate (Rina)
Eric Corton (Jan Paul)
Renée Fokker (Hélène)
Esgo Heil (Stefan)
Johan Leysen (Vincent)

Crew:
script & direction: Digna Sinke
camera: Goert Giltay
sound: Lukas Boeke
make-up: Mia De Jong
editing: Jan Wouter van Reijen
re-recording mix: Ad Roest
laboratory: Cineco
production manager: Ineke van Gulik
assistant producer: René Goossens
producer: René Scholten / Studio Nieuwe Gronden

this film is financially supported by:
Fonds voor de Nederlandse Film