67. Het Regent Zonnestralen &...

Lyrics

Op een terras ergens in Frankrijk in de zon

(In a cafe, somwhere in the French sun)
Zit een man die het tot gisteren nooit won

(Sits a man who until yesterday never won anything)
Maar zijn auto vloog hier vlakbij uit de bocht

(But somwhere near here his car crashed)
Zonder hem, zonder Herman,
(Without him, without Herman)

Want die had hem net verkocht 

(Cause he just sold it)

Herman in de zon op het terras

(Herman in the sunny cafe)
Leest in 't AD dat 'ie niet meer in leven was

(Reads in the paper that he is not alive anymore)
Zijn auto was volledig afgebrand

(His car had burned out completely)
En die man die hem gekocht had,

(And the man who bought it)
Stond onder zijn naam in de krant

(Was filed as Herman in the paper) 

O, o, o,
Even rustig ademhalen

(Take a breath)
O, o, o,
Het lijkt alsof het regent als altijd

(It seems like it is raining as always)
Maar het regent en het regent zonnestralen

(But it is raining and it is raining sunrays)

Nog geen week terug, in een park in Amsterdam

(Just a week ago in a park in Amsterdam)
Had hij zijn leven overzien en schrok zich lam

(He reflected on his life en scared himself shitless)
Hij was een man wiens leven nu al was bepaald

(He was a man whose life was already decided)
En van al zijn jongensdromen

(And of all his dreams of youth)
Was alleen het oud worden gehaald
(He only succeeded in getting old)

O, o, o,
Even rustig ademhalen

(Take a breath)
O, o, o,
Want het lijkt alsof het regent als altijd

( Cause it seems like it is raining as always)
Maar het regent en het regent zonnestralen

(But it is raining and it is raining sunrays)

Op een bankje in het park kwam het besluit

(At a stool in the park the decision came)
Noem het dapper, noem het vluchten maar ik knijp er tussenuit

(Call it brave, call it fleeing, but I am leaving)
Nu een week geleden en hier zat hij dan maar weer

(That was a week ago and now he's sitting here)
Met meer vrijheid dan hem lief was en nu wist hij het niet meer

(With more freedom than he can handle and now he doesn't know what to do anymore)
Herman leest wel honderd keer de krant

(Herman reads the paper a hunderd times)
Het staat er echt, pagina achttien, zwartomrand

(It's really written, on page 18, black rimmed)
Hield 'ie vroeger al zijn meningen

(He used to keep al his opinions)
En al zijn dromen stil

(And all his dreams silent)
Nu was 'ie niks niet niemand nergens meer

(Now he was nothing not nobody nowhere anymore)
Kan dus gaan waar 'ie maar wil

(So he can go wherever he wants)

Herman rekent af en staat dan op

(Herman pays the bill and leaves)
Hij heeft eindelijk de wind weer in zijn kop

(He has finally the wind in his hair)
'Ik heb een tweede kans gekregen

('I've gotten a second chance)
En da's meer dan ik verdien

(And that's more than I deserve)
Maar als dit het is, is dit het,

(But if this is it, this is it)
als dit het is, is dit het, 

(If this is it, this is it)
als dit het is, is dit het

(If this is it, this is it)
En we zullen het wel zien'

(And we'll see what happens next)'

O, o, o,
Even rustig ademhalen

(Take a breath)
O, o, o,
Het lijkt alsof het regent als altijd

(It seems like it is raining as always)
Maar het regent en het regent zonnestralen

(But it is raining and it is raining sunrays)


Musically this is a pretty average song, even for Dutch standards. But I love the lyrics of it, written by Acda & De Munnik, often considered among the best modern Dutch songwriters. They combine regret and humor very well in the song and pay some wonderful attention to detail. And they tell a rather original story. The movie I combined this song with is an American classic that deals with many of the same themes explored in this song.

The Movie: Seconds (John Frankenheimer, 1966)

A couple of posts ago I discussed Frankenheimer's The Manchurian Candidate, which is now one of my favorite movies. Considering that Seconds is considered Frankenheimer's best movie my expectations for it were high. Well, Seconds doesn't reach the highs of The Manchurian Candidate, but it is still a very good movie. Above all it shows that you don't need solemn filmmaking to present a bleak worldview, which is unfortunately something way too many movies these days do. Frankenheimer shows in Seconds again that he is a vibrant, energetic filmmaker who clearly has fun making movies. And he knows how to combine different filmmaking aesthetics in a great way. In the brilliant opening scene alone the movie combines the style of documentary filmmaking with surrealism to create a deeply eerie mood. And sometimes it even uses documentary aesthethics to create a surrealistic effect. But the greatness of the movie starts even before the opening scene, with the opening credits While we get the usual information about the movie, we see a body being distorted and we are shown weird close-ups of the interiors of the face, the nostrils and eardrums. Thus within 5 minutes the movie has managed to create a rather haunting mood.  

The images we see in the opening credits are fitting. This is a movie about a company that fakes the deaths of depressed middle-aged men and then using plastic surgery changes their identity, thereby giving them a new life, or as they call it a second chance. When the film opens Arthur Hamilton (John Randoplh) is contemplating whether to undergo such a procedure. The night before he has heard from a friend he thought dead, about the possibilities offered by this company. Obviously it is through word of mouth that this company gets its clients. As one of its employers says they can't just advertise on the street. In any case Arthur has doubts about whether he should do it. He is married after all, has a decent job as a banker and a daughter. But it's clear he doesn't feel comfortable anymore. He and his wife 'get along', but they do sleep in two separate beds, he is constantly sweating, is unhappy with his job and rarely sees his daughter. So he takes the chance and goes to the company. There they basically extort him so he is forced to undergo the procedure. After undergoing the procedure he comes out as Tony Wilson and is now played by Rock Hudson. He now has the complete freedom to do whatever he wants, but never does feel comfortable in his new skin. He tries to get used to his new life, fails and asks the company for a third chance. He does not get that. It is an understatement to say that this is not a very optimistic movie.

It is, as I said, very good though, although it has some small problems. It sometimes makes its themes too literal for example. In the opening 10/20 minutes Frankenheimer basically gives a masterclass in how to portray the discontent of a man in a mid-life crisis. It's not that Arthur doesn't have what he wants. It's that he doesn't know what he wants and whether he really has any desire for anything. Frankenheimer, together with the great screenplay and John Randolph expertly manages to create an atmosphere of dread and anxiety. So it is kind of unfortunate and unnecessary that once he gets to the corporation, the movie rehashes this through some on-the-nose dialogue. And after the procedure the movie has a bit too many scenes showing us that Tony is unhappy with his life and that he doesn't feel comfortable in his own skin. Still, there are much more incerdibly original and intelligent scenes, that work both on an absurdist and tragic level. And that also work as merely great filmmaking. There is for example a masterful scene when Tony visits his former wife. And there is the moment we find out how much Tony is controlled by the company. And the final scene, together with the revelation of what happens in a weird waiting room in the company. 

In The Manchurian Candidate Frankenheimer showed he didn't have a high opinion of communism. Here he shows he doesn't have a high opinion of capitalism either. This may be one of the most anti-corporate American movies I have ever seen. It shows the corporation as utterly uninterested in doing good, or even providing a reliable product. It is only interested in making a profit. In fact, I've seen this movie only once now, but as I interpreted it, the corporation here only can continue its work if it doesn't provide a good product. And human lives are both the means of production and objects of consumption. Sure there is an idea behind the product they are selling, but that's just used as a marketing pitch.We don't actually see any evidence that there are people who succesfully start their lives over, quite the contrary in fact.