Dutch Harbor: Where the Sea Breaks its Back

Atmospheric black-and-white documentary that consciously moved away from the usual documentary form. Braden King and Laura Moya recorded in impressionistic images the wild landscape and harsh conditions of the most Western area of America: the island of Unalaska off the coast of Alaska in the Bering Sea. The fishing village of Dutch Harbor on Unalaska is a cold and god forsaken spot that is flooded with adventurers during the fishing season (crab) just like the old Wild West. Under the eyes of the film-makers, a transition takes place from the Wild-West atmosphere to a more industrial and streamlined society. King and Moya collected statements by the (temporary) inhabitants of Dutch Harbor, but almost always left the people off screen. Their attention is drawn to the imposing masses of ice, the monstrous huge waves and the improvised ugly beauty of an almost industrial setting. Dutch Harbor is a mythical place where people who want to do the hard and dangerous fishing are not asked too many questions about their past. A place where civilisation does not have a very firm grip.The music provides a major contribution to the unusual and icy mood of the film. Several musicians with a major reputation in the avant-garde music scene of Chicago improvised under the leadership of Michael Krassner to the imposing black and white images, as a result of which the largely visual story remained intact. (GjZ)