44. Papa &...

Lyrics

Ik heb dezelfde ogen

(I have the same eyes)

En ik krijg jouw trekken om mijn mond

(And I am getting your lines around my mouth)

Vroeger was ik driftig

(I used to be testy)

Vroeger was jij driftig

(You used to be testy)

Maar we hebben onze rust gevonden

(But we've found comfort in each other)

En we zitten naast elkaar

(And we are sitting next to each other)

En we zeggen niet zoveel

(And we aren't saying much)

Voor alles wat jij doet

(Everything you do)

Heb ik hetzelfde ritueel

(I do the same way)

Papa

(Daddy)

Ik lijk steeds meer op jou 

(I resemble you more and more)

Ik heb dezelfde handen

(I have the same hands)
En ik krijg jouw rimpels in mijn huid

(And I am getting your wrinkles in my skin)
Jij hebt jouw idee?n

(You have your ideas)
Ik heb mijn idee?n

(I have my ideas)
En we zwerven in gedachten

(And we roam in thoughts)
Maar we komen altijd thuis

(But we always come home)
De waarheid die je zocht

(The truth that you sought)
En die je nooit hebt gevonden

(And that you never found)
Ik zoek haar ook

(I seek her too)
En tevergeefs

(In vain)
Zolang ik leef

(As long as I live)
Want papa, ik lijk steeds meer op jou

(Because daddy, I resemble you more and more)

Vroeger kon je streng zijn

(You could be stern)
En ik heb je soms gehaat

(And sometimes I have hated you)
Maar jouw woorden

(But your words)
Ze liggen op mijn lippen

(They sit on my lips)
En ik praat nu

(And I speak now)
Zoals jij vroeger praatte

(The way you used to speak)
Ik heb een goddeloos geloof

(I have a godless religion)
En ik hou van elke vrouw

(And I lover every woman)
En misschien ben ik geworden

(And maybe I've become)
Wat jij helemaal niet wou

(What you didn't want at all)
Maar papa, ik lijk steeds meer op jou

(But daddy, I resemble you more and more)

Jij gelooft in God

(You believe in God)
Dus jij gaat naar de hemel

(So you'll go to heaven)
En ik geloof in niks

(And I believe in nothing)
Dus we komen elkaar na de dood

(So after death)
Na de dood nooit meer tegen

(After death, we'll meet no more)
Maar papa

(But daddy)
Ik hou steeds meer van jou

(I love you more and more)

So, this appears to be the most popular Dutch song about a relationship between a father and a son. I don't like Stef Bos' singing, but this is a good song with some very good lyrics. It is not the most popular or famous Dutch cultural object about a father-son relationship. That is probably Ferdinand Bordewijk's book Karakter, often considered to be one of the best Dutch books. The book was adapted into a movie in 1997. This movie is currently the last Dutch movie to win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

The Movie: Character (Karakter) (Mike van Diem, 1997)

Well, of course this movie won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. How could it not? If this movie was set in USA, its' hero Katadreuffe would be basically considered as the embodiment of the American Dream. In fact it is almost surprising that there hasn't been an American remake yet. Americans love this kind of stories and films. They also know how to make them interesting and exciting. Something that unfortunately cannot really be said of this movie. It is competently told and there is nothing really wrong with the acting and cinematography either. The movie is just not very interesting and a bit dull. Part of the problem may be that the book focuses much more on the relationship between Katadreuffe and his father, while the movie is a bit more interested in portraying the sociopolitical realities of the time. Only it is quite politically muddled. 

The movie follows Jakob Willem Katadreuffe, a bastard son of one of the most dreaded Rotterdam bailiffs, Dreverhaven. Dreverhaven had a one night stand once with his housemaid Coba. When she learned of her pregnancy she immediately left Dreverhaven in order to care for her son as a single mother. She was a stubborn woman, who didn't want to depend on anyone. So she raised her son Katadreuffe in poverty, barely earning enough money to keep them both alive. This despite the fact that Dreverhaven repeatedly sent her letters offering her to marry him. Thus life for little Katadreuffe wasn't easy. Non only did he live in poverty, he was also bullied because he was a bastard. His mother didn't tell him who his father was, but she didn't tell him much anyway. She was a silent woman who talked as little as possible. The movie makes very clear that Katadreuffe is a self-taught man, who is on his own in this world. At the end of the movie he manages to become a defense attorney, after a lot of successes and failures. He is presented as the epitome of a self made man.  Many of this failures are a direct consequence of Dreverhaven's actions (who knows Katadreuffe is his son, and Katadreuffe eventually learns this too). In the end Katadreuffe confronts Dreverhaven with his actions. The dialogue that follows is one of the most famous dialogue from Dutch literature. Katadreuffe asks Dreverhaven: "Why did you work your whole life against me?" To which Dreverhaven responds: "Or for you?", implying that everything he did was intended to make Katadreuffe a stronger man, so he could be better equipped to make something out of his life. 

I am not really a fan of writing such thorough plot summaries as in the previous paragraph, but in this case it is necessary to explain why the movie isn't so interesting and why it is so politically muddled. The main problem with the movie may be that Katadreuffe is a very dull character. He doesn't really have any interesting ideas or convictions. He just wants to be successful. And the movie simply follows him and completely supports him in his quest. There isn't really much conflict or emotion. Bad things happen to him, and then he works hard to make things better for him. And for a movie that is so much about working hard, it never really manages to evoke how hard it really is for Katadreuffe to succeed. There is no sense of urgency or suffering. It all seems to come relatively easy to him. Many American movies would have an obligatory and unnecessary romance between all this. After watching this movie, one realizes that these romances aren't that obligatory and unnecessary. This movie needs an unnecessary romance, if only to shake things up a bit. To make matters worse, this movie not only doesn't have a romance, it actively avoids having one (though to be fair, that is faithful to the book).       

Both the movie and the book are often compared to the works of Charles Dickens. I am not that familiar with Dickens, but as far as I know, he was firmly on the side of the poor and the working class. He may not have been a socialist (I don't know), but the politics of his works were. I think that this movie wants to be socialist and even truly believes it is. The problem is that not only isn't it socialist, but it is in fact one of the most unabashedly catipalism-loving movies I've ever seen. When Katadreuffe gives a speech about how anyone can make it in this world, if he only knows exactly what he wants and works his ass of to get it, the movie seems to wholeheartedly agree with him. It does present that speech as pretty boneheaded, but not because of what he says, but because of what he doesn't say, namely that he loves his female colleague. And while the movie presents him as a man who has to make it on his own in this world, it doesn't sympathize with this fact. It truly seems to believe that this is how the world is and should be. 

The movie has sympathy for Coba who doesn't want to be helped by Dreverhaven and wants to make it on her own. And when Dreverhaven tries to help her, he is presented as a huge fool. On the other hand Dreverhaven is presented as a hugely intelligent man when he makes a family leave their house, because they haven't payed their rent. This family is presented as a bunch of lying parasites (the mother pretends to be deadly sick and asks Dreverhaven if they can stay just a bit longer in their house) and Dreverhaven, the hero, sees right through their lies. And that final dialogue between Dreverhaven and Katadreuffe is actually favoring Dreverhaven. While it doesn't completely unambiguously say that Dreverhaven did the right by working against Katadreuffe, it does have sympathy for that viewpoint, and actually sees Katadreuffe as a bit of an idiot for not seeing that Dreverhaven did what is best for him. And let's not start about the representation of the company where Katadreuffe works. It is basically a heavenly place where good, interesting people work in harmony. It is the place that makes dreams come true. To work for it is not only to succeed in life, but it is to live a good life. Lastly it is worth noting that Katadreuffe's best friend is a communist. His main purpose in the movie is to be laughed at.  All of this wouldn't be such a problem if a) the movie intended to have such politics and b) the movie was more exciting