Oogverblindend

The film has a daring minimal point of departure: a woman on the phone. That’s it. You don’t see who she’s talking to. It takes a lot to maintain interest throughout the length of a film with that. Cyrus Frisch has a solid reputation when it comes to taking risks. So maybe it’s not so unusual for him to take the challenge. More striking is that he entrusted this tour de force for an actress to Georgina Verbaan, who made her name in Holland through popular soap series and a lifestyle that is primarily of interest to the tabloids. But Frisch’s faith in Verbaan is paid back in a moving and fragile presentation.
These self-imposed limitations of the film forced the film maker to visual virtuosity. The unity of place and action demanded a very creative translation into film.
At the other end of the phone is an Argentine doctor, voiced by the famous Rutger Hauer. A voice that is not only convincing, but also introduces decades-old Dutch and American film history into the film.
It is, by the way, certainly no lighthearted chat on the phone. The great suffering of humanity and the world is tackled. The woman can no longer face all that suffering and tries to talk her way out of it in a conversation with a stranger. And these great actors even succeed in making it bearable. (GjZ)