Feature film
Obsessions
Pim de la Parra · 1969
Synopsis
A painting falls from the wall of the room rented by Nils, a medical student in Amsterdam, and reveals a hole through which one can see into the neighbour's place. Behind the partition, women held under drugs are used in a trafficking operation; one evening, Nils sees his neighbour lay on the bed a body that no longer moves. He tries to go and see, finds the door locked, and confides in Marina, the journalist he lives with, who happens to be writing about a murder.
Context
It is the first Dutch film shot in English, and its director's feature debut, his command of the language being hesitant: Martin Scorsese, then in Amsterdam to shoot a sequence of his own debut, retouched the screenplay. Bernard Herrmann, Hitchcock's composer, first asked for a fee out of reach, then opened his store of unused music. Frans Bromet operated the camera, Jan de Bont did the detail shots, and the German producer Dieter Geissler played the lead role.
Who it is for
Ninety-one minutes, shot in English. It is worth knowing that nudity is constant and that the film is as much exploitation as suspense.
Prizes and reception
A lukewarm reception at home, but sold to some sixty-five countries and well received in Germany; regarded as a forerunner of the Dutch erotic wave.