39. Testament &...

Lyrics

Na 22 jaren in dit leven
(After 22 years in this life)
Maak ik het testament op van mijn jeugd
(I write the testament of my youth)
Niet dat ik geld of goed heb weg te geven
(Not that I have got any money of stuff to give)
Voor slimme jongen heb ik nooit gedeugd
(I've never been a decent, smart boy)
Maar ik heb nog wel wat mooie idealen
(But I still have some beautiful ideals)
Goed van snit hoewel ze uit de mode zijn
(They still work well, though they are out of fashion)
Wie ze hebben wil die mag ze komen halen
(Whomever wants them can come and get them)
Vooral jonge mensen vinden ze nog fijn
(Especially young people still like them)

Aan mijn broertje dat zo graag wil gaan studeren
(To my brother, who wants to go to college so much)
Laat ik met plezier 't adres na van mijn kroeg
(I am happy to give the adress of my bar)
Waar 'k teveel dronk om een vrouw te imponeren
(Where I drank too much to impress a woman)
En daarna de klappen kreeg waarom ik vroeg
(And afterwards got hit, just what I asked for)
En dan heb ik nog een stuk of wat vriendinnen
(And I also have a bunch of girlfriends)
Die wel-opgevoed en zeer verstandig zijn
(Who are well-raised and very smart)
En waarmee je dus geen donder kunt beginnen
(So you can't do a damn with them)
Maar misschien krijgt iemand anders ze wel klein
(But maybe someone else will tame them)

Voor mijn neefje zijn mijn onvervulde wensen
(For my cousin are my unfulfilled wishes)
Wel wat kinderlijk maar ach ze zijn zo diep
(A bit childish, but they are so very deep)
Ik behoorde immer tot die groep van mensen
(I always belonged to the group of people)
Voor wie 't geluk toch altijd harder liep
(For whom happiness was always a bit too fast)
Aan mijn vrienden laat ik gaarne het vermogen
(To my friends I leave the ability)
Om verliefd te worden op een meisjeslach
(To fall in love with a female smile)
Zelf ben ik helaas een keer teveel bedrogen
(Unfortunately, I've been cheated once too often)
Maar wie het eens proberen wil die mag
(But you're welcome if you want to try)

M'n vriendinnetje ik laat jou alle nachten
(My girlfriend, I leave you all the nights)
Dat ik tranen om jouw ontrouw heb gestort
(That I shed tears over your infidelity)
Maar onthoudt dit wel ik zal geduldig wachten
(But remember that I will wait patiently)
Tot ik lach omdat jij ook belazerd wordt
(Until I smile, because someone is fooling you)
En de leraar die mij altijd placht te dreigen
(And the teacher who always wanted to threaten me)
Jongen jij komt nog op het verkeerde pad
(Boy, you will go astray someday)
Kan tevreden zijn en hoeft niets meer te krijgen
(Can be satisfied and doesn't need to get anything anymore)
Dat wil zeggen hij heeft toch gelijk gehad
(What I mean is, he turned out to be correct)

Voor mijn ouders is het album met de plaatjes
(For my parents is the album with the pictures)
Die zo vals getuigen van een blijde jeugd
(False witnesses of a happy youth)
Maar ze tonen niet de zouteloze praatjes
(But they don't show the toothless talks)
Die een kind opvoeden in eer en deugd
(That raise a child to live with honor and virtue)
En verder krijgen z'alle dwaze dingen
(And furthermore they get all the foolish things back)
Terug die ze mij teveel geleerd hebben die tijd
(That they've taught me too much) 
Ze kunnen mij tenslotte ook niet dwingen
(After all, they can't force me)
Groot te worden zonder diep berouw en spijt
(To grow up without deep sorrow and regret)

En dan heb ik ook nog enkele goede vrienden
(Then, I have some good friends)
Maar die hebben al genoeg van mij gehad
(But I have gotten them enough)
Dus ik gun ze nu het loon dat ze verdienden
(So I gladly give them what they deserve)
Alle drank die ze van mij hebben gejat
(All the drinks they stole from me) 
Verder niets er zijn alleen nog een paar dingen
(Lastly there are still a couple of things)
Die ik houd omdat geen mens er iets aan heeft
(I keep, because they are no use to anybody)
Dat zijn mijn goede jeugdherinneringen
(That are my good childhood memories)
Die neem je mee zolang je verder leeft
(You keep them with you as long as you live)


Well, this song just rubs me the wrong way. Too much drama that seems to exist only for the sake of drama. I feel that Boudewijn de Groot very disingenuously presents himself as some kind of great, deeply tormented man, full of deep, troubling thoughts. I think this is a pretty whiny song, by a man who doesn't seem to have had much reason for whining. Which would be a lesser problem if he could convincingly sell it. To me he doesn't. My slight distaste for the song explains the movie I chose. It is a movie about a youngster rejecting society. I thought I'd hate it. I was completely wrong.

The Movie: Into the Wild (Sean Penn, 2007)

In high school I've had some classes about the Romantic writers and poets, who emerged in the 18th century. We learned the usual stuff about them. In their writings they rejected the civil/industrial society. They also reject reason and the values of rationalism, instead caring deeply about feelings and emotions. And they wrote about the (destructive) power and greatness of nature. While I thought that a lot of these writers had a great style, I did dislike them. I believe(d) that 'our' human society is essentially good. Despite the fact that we've done many horrible things, I believe that we've achieved a lot more great things. And that human interaction is something, not only important, but great. To reject our society and the people in it in favor of nature is therefore wrong and antisocial. These Romantics may have had great love for nature, but to me that was meaningless if they don't have great love for humans and civil society.

So despite the fact that I was aware that Into the Wild had a reputation as a very good film, I kind of consciously avoided it since it came out. The movie is about Chris McCandles who after college decides to reject civil society and go into the wild. His dream is to live alone in the Alaskan woods. I thought it would present this as an unambiguously good thing. It didn't help that the movie is directed by Sean Penn, who often comes of as a pretty arrogant misanthrope, who hates all of society/humanity. That's also why I don't always like him as an actor. Too often in his roles his contempt shines through. That's unfortunate, because when he does show kindness as in The Interpreter or in Milk (his Oscar for that was very much deserved) he can be really great. He does show that kindness in the movies that he directs. At least in the two I've seen. The Pledge is a 2001 movie with Jack Nicholson. It got that Nicholson, in the roles that made him great in the 60's and 70's, played wise guys who were pretty tragic. They were wise guys, but they had to struggle a lot to make it and sometimes failed. They weren't wise guys who were the king of their world, as Nicholson often was in his later roles.

Into the Wild is a great movie. Sean Penn clearly has a lot of sympathy and compassion for Chris. And not only for him, but also for what he wants to do. But that doesn't mean that he fully supports Chris' decisions. Besides he has that sympathy and compassion for every character in the movie, including the ones who disagree with him. In fact perhaps the most sympathetic character in the movie is Chris' sister Carine (Jena Malone). Malone is only on screen for a couple of minutes and is narrating some parts of the movie. Yet through this narration and her short scenes she really manages to convey her love for her brother and how she is both extremely sad and elated that her brother has gone into the wild to follow his dream.

The movie also asks the question whether a human can be truly independent from human civilization, even if he goes on to live alone in the wilderness. Chris may be far away from civil society, he is still dependent on the inventions of civil society to survive. He uses rifles to kill animals, sleeps in an abandoned bus and uses cooking material to prepare his food.

Watching the movie it sometimes feels as if in preparation for it Sean Penn has studied the Romantic poets O wrote about earlier. Admittedly I don't know much about them beyond what I've learned at school, but the movie sometimes feels as if it could have been made by such a poet if he wanted to objectively examine his beliefs (and had access to film equipment, which was pretty hard to come by in the 18th century). This may sound like a pretty pretentious statement and it may well be. But the movie is pretty poetic. It doesn't really have a narrative. It mostly consists of chronologically and narratively disjointed scenes in which Chris meats various people on his journey to Alaska, his life on Alaska, and various memories of Chris and Carine's unhappy childhood. Most scenes aren't really concerned with moving the plot forward or saying something interesting, but in conveying emotions. And it does this incredibly successfully. You may disagree with whatever Chris does, but the movie conveys his joy in doing it so greatly that it makes you unbelievably happy. It also makes us understand why someone might want to go into the wild. This movie is, among other things, also a love letter to the vastness of America.

This is essentially a movie about good people having and pursuing the freedom to live the life they want to live. And despite the fact that Chris says that the joy of life doesn't come principally from the joy of human relationships, the movie posits that the joy of human relationships is what matters most to most people. The movie looks with great sadness at Chris, who leaves each and every person who he meets on his journey in order to live alone at Alaska. And it is quite sad. All these people he meets on his journey are intelligent, interesting, free spirits. He has a wonderful time with them and they with him. And as I said earlier the movie conveys the joy and happiness of these people so well, that you just don't want to leave the scene. If he would stay with these people he would be able to live doing, what are for him, fulfilling things with people that love him and that he loves. The movie gets that Chris misunderstands that this is what he is really pursuing. Unfortunately when Chris gets this himself, it is too late. The actors by the way are all really great. The movie manages to make Vince Vaughn sympathetic. I thought that was impossible. The movie is also the final proof that the people claiming Kristen Stewart is talentless are completely wrong. I haven't seen the Twilight movies, and probably won't. But if I do it will be because of her. She is one of the best and one of the most beautiful young actresses now working. To me, she proved this already in the great Adventureland, which I think is the best teen romantic comedy ever made. But she has her finest moment in this movie, when in the best (too short) scene in the movie she performs the song Angel from Montgomery. Hal Holbrook got nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, but his character is the dullest one in the movie. And also the only one that feels more like a walking movie cliche instead of a real human being.