HEMEL (Mongrel, 2012) D: Sacha Polak, w/ Hannah Hoekstra, Hans Dagelet. Rating: NNNN DVD package: NNN Rating: NNNN
The graphic sex that opens Hemel and the hints of incest that emerge later are central to the story and handled with the same degree of insight and empathy that enriches the movie.
Early on it becomes clear that the 20ish title character’s (Hannah Hoekstra) string of one-night stands conceals a search for love and reflects her father’s pattern of serial girlfriends. She and her father have a particularly close bond, and she’s not at all prepared for his latest lover.
Hoekstra and Hans Dagelet, as the father, navigate delicate and complex emotional territory with a naturalism that lets us enter their inner lives yet retains a measure of reserve that keeps us intrigued.
In the interviews, Hoekstra and director Sacha Polak discuss the characters and the need to leave the door open for audience exploration, and Polak outlines her visual plan.
EXTRAS Polak interview, Hoekstra interview, essay and interviews booklet. Dutch audio. English subtitles.
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