Director: Sando Heijnen
Writer: Sando Heijnen, Eli Idsart & Meander van Harrewijen
Cast: Manu Zain Carmiggelt & Roman Derwig
Running time: 11mins
As the years pass, I enjoy more and more how I get to see artists evolve, when they send their follow-up work. But the thing I like most about Eindwerk is not something new, but its commonalities with previous movies from Sando Heijnen.
Rather than a challenge line of an artist still exploring what makes him tick, this feels like a confirmation of authorial voice – of accepting a unique set of cinematic finger-prints, and leaning into them, coating a new piece of material in the things that unmistakeably constitute a Sando Heijnen film. Complex, multifaceted editing. The eternal quest for a creative visual language, in spite of a shoe-string budget. The use of claustrophobic spaces and hand-held cameras, to push actors out of their comfort zones. The jet-black streak of comedy running through the grimmest of situations.
The hallmarks of previous productions COMPLEX, Doe Eens Mens, and Een Doodgewone Dag all crop up here to make this feel like the most Heijnen-like product possible – and that is what underscores its strongest moments; as the film seems bent on becoming a self-aware satire of the artist. While I should be clear, I don’t think Heijnen is pretentious at all in his work, here we see an awareness of what might have been – amid a skewering of the desperate auteur willing to do anything to get people talking – and a warning that given the opportunity, those inclinations are present inside us all.
The story follows two avant-garde creatives, in their quest to generate the most provocative Eindwerk (obviously meaning Final Work) possible. Asked what they hope to accomplish in the deserted studio – the floor of which has been conspicuously covered in plastic wrap – the senior (Manu Zain Carmiggelt) of the pair wears an ominous, unbreaking stare while addressing the junior (Roman Derwig).
The relationship between the pair will undergo many transformations as the story progresses – often with a horror-comic edge to proceedings – but in this first encounter, Derwig is very much the doe-eyed foil to Carmiggelt’s rapidly-approaching 18-wheeler. The gaze which meets the gun suddenly rattling out of Carmiggelt’s pocket is glazed, and unremarkable – as if Derwig is somehow still failing to pick up on the American Psycho style cues about what is going to make this exhibition particularly challenging.
Things finally become clear to Derwig’s character when, midway through rehearsals in which Carmiggelt is struggling to tap into more authentic emotions, they are interrupted by the facility’s janitor. “Jongens, we gaar bijna sluiten,” he blathers while bumbling in carrying a mop and bucket – only for Carmiggelt to blow the poor man away with even less emotion than exhibited in the failed monologue.
After a humorously underwhelming attempt to escape, Derwig feels like there is no alternative but to play along with Carmiggelt’s grand ambitions. As the narrative progresses, however, the ideas of control and coercion become less apparent, and we are left to wonder just how much Carmiggelt is really having to force any of the unfolding madness.
All this means this is thematically Heijnen’s most interesting work so far. There is a degree of vulnerability – of making “an experimental art thriller”, which satirises the creation of experimental art, Heijnen and co-writers Eli Idsart and Meander van Harrewijen are alluding to things they will have thought and felt in their own work. For all the avant-garde posturing of the two characters, for all the alleged grandeur of their vision, the world they inhabit is one tiny, rented studio space. Whatever they succeed in creation, it is unlikely to have been worth the human lives apparently under threat, while distributing it to a worthy audience will be far beyond the means of any survivor.
At the same time, whenever someone places a camera in the hands of anyone – similar to a gun – there is a potential for their inner tyrant to break free, and immediately start making impractical, impossible demands. Heijnen’s body of work is testament to being able to break free from that cycle, though, to the credit of him and his collaborators. His ideas might occasionally become lofty, but they are always delivered effectively, within his means.
With that being said, there are moments where Eindwerk suffers from certain lapses in concentration. And with such a minimalistic style of delivery, these lapses are extremely noticeable. This is especially the case for the violence – with the film’s premise hinging on its threat and gravity.
For example, while it is understandable that there are no squibs or blood-bursts after the shooting of the janitor, as his body is dragged away, the floor beneath his corpse is pristine – and would have benefitted from some kind of blood-like substance to smear behind him. Even ketchup would have done the job. Worse, though, is when Carmiggelt convinces Derwig to bludgeon his hand with a hammer. After the impact – a sickening piece of audio trickery standing in for showing us actual contact – Carmiggelt finds it remarkably easy to use the hand in question. The limb still opens, closes, and even bears weight – when the character begins to crawl on all fours like a dog, in a following scene. It doesn’t detract from what I like about the film – but it does hold a good idea back from being converted into a great movie.
Then there is the conclusion. Admittedly, it is a conclusion which works well in its original language – so I can’t detract too much on this point. But the curiosities of directly translating Dutch to English yield a sentence here which is back-to-front, and risks having some viewers miss out on what is an excellent punchline.
All in all, this is a well-thought-out, intelligently realised story, where cast and crew all shine in their respective roles. All for the princely sum of €50. I would love to see what Heijnen would do with a bigger budget, and a longer production timeframe – but I am also happy to see him stick to his guns as here, and to witness where his increasingly well-defined cinematic language takes us all next.